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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26944549">Sectumsempra</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/elusive_lagume/pseuds/elusive_lagume'>elusive_lagume</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:28:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>45,490</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26944549</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/elusive_lagume/pseuds/elusive_lagume</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in a post-war time period, the Golden Trio has returned to Hogwarts, soley by persuasion of Hermione, for their eighth and final year to finish their NEWTS. They'd been expecting it to be semi normal year, with the slow rebuilding of the castle and, in Ron and Harry's eyes at least, completely futile education. But when Harry can't shake the feeling that something definitely related to dark magic is afoot, he decides to confide in the most trustworthy, out there, and understanding person he knows: Luna Lovegood. Their wild goose chase for the unknown source runs them into unexpected alliances, cold blooded betrayals, and newly found bondings that change the outcome of their lives for better...or for worse. Told from the perspective of several different people.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Luna Lovegood/Theodore Nott</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. sur·rep·ti·tious</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong> <em>~Perspective of</em> </strong> <strong> <em> Ron Weasley~</em> </strong></p><p><em>The savory scent of freshly baked mince meat pies infiltrated Ron's senses, making his mouth water. He shifted on his spun sugar cloud of a bed, sat up and could swear the smell was getting stronger and stronger...and then he saw them. A whole herd of pies flying valiantly towards him, set on a marvelous backdrop of radiant sunset over the fluffy white expanse. A sigh of awe escaped his lips, but he didn't even care how silly it made him sound. All he wanted were the pies. And they were getting ever so clo- </em>RONALD, <em>the pies sang, their sweet voices mingling and harmonizing perfectly. </em>RONALD!!! <em>They seemed a bit more angry this time, perhaps facing the fact that they were about to meet their doom at his han- </em></p><p>But suddenly the beautiful fantasy disappeared, replaced by a very angry, very zoomed in image of Hermione and a very tired looking Harry opposite of her.  She was glaring down at him in the most adorable fashion, and he immediately put on a goofy grin to see if she could keep a straight face...and after several seconds of this facial expression war, he realized he was on the losing team. </p><p>"Hermione, I know this is just you acting out of this habit towards all the men in your life, but there's no need to wake up a bloke with such a face like that, you know, you look quite unattractive with that ugly scowl contorting your less than ugly features." This seemed to just make her more irritated than before. </p><p>"Ron, for god's sake, you were drooling all over my <em>skirt </em>which I <em>just bought yesterday </em>and whispering things like 'Come closer my pretties'. If I didn't already know your dream tendencies, I would have assumed you were just some trench coat clad pervert fantasizing about creeping after unsuspecting females." He felt his ears and cheeks immediately pigmenting to a signature Ronald Weasley beet red, embarrassed he'd been mumbling in his sleep, and about mince meat pies of all things. When Hermione saw this, though, her petrifying stare seemed to soften a bit, a teasing glint in her honey brown eyes. </p><p>"It was the pies again, wasn't it?" she inquired in a knowing and kindly tone. Evidently it was possible for Ron to redden even further. He was looking more and more like a beet who had stayed in the sun for too long without a sun blocking charm at the thought that Hermione had both known he was dreaming about food and the exact type of food it was, too. A sudden curve in the direction of the Hogwarts Express caused Ron to roll onto the floor of their compartment with a yelp. Harry had also awoken at the sound of Hermione's shrill voice, it seemed, and proceeded to nearly cough up a lung from laughter as Ron reddened even further and pulled his tall, skinny frame back up onto the seat, nearly squashing his neatly organized array of pumpkin pasties, chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and other candies and snacks, some of which seeming new to the usual menu of the train. </p><p>"Mr. Weasley, do try to behave yourself this year. I'll be expecting the proper conduct display throughout this term, as you are envisioned to be a solid role model for the younger students. Make an effort to keep the noises of your <em>constant</em> nourishment consumption at a minimum, it would be most disappointing if the students picked up your ungodly manners," Harry scolded in a snooty (and rather spot on) imitation of McGonagall, causing Hermione to dissolve in and "unladylike" fit of giggles. </p><p>Ginny, who'd fallen asleep with her head on Harry's shoulder, mumbled a string of profanities in the midst of her slumber, and the attention was then turned from a still bright red Ron to his younger sister as she swatted her arms about. </p><p>"Should we wake her?" Hermione inquired, sounding rather concerned for her friend, as the look on Ginny's face contorted into a half scowl-have sob. </p><p>"I wager that if any one of us lays a finger on her right this minute we'll get hexed straight back to the Platform," Ron mused. She didn't respond to his answer, merely sending yet another angry look in his direction. At nearly the exact same time, the train began to slow to a stop.</p><p>"Hermione, that scowl you just shot Ron was enough to make the train stop." </p><p>"You aren't look so fine yourself Harry," Hermione struggled for an epic comeback and failed miserably. It was true, though, with Harry's overgrown locks, crooked glasses, and floody jeans, he was indeed looking a little worse for wear. Looking around the compartment, Ron saw that they all still looked pretty frazzled, even though the war had ended, and with a positive outcome, at least. But with the rings under each of their eyes, it was obvious that they were all a bit sleep deprived, most likely from the nightmares that promised to visit as soon as they shut their lids.</p><p>When the train finally jolted to a stop, Ginny awoke, jumping into an alert sitting position, a Spongify coming halfway out of her mouth, and then stopping as she realized where she was. This caused everyone to put on a amused expression, likely towards the fact that Ginny had been using a Spongify spell to seemingly protect herself, which, unless the objective was to soften something, would prove itself completely futile. When she saw everyone's puzzled faces, she shooed them with her hands, as if to say "OH for god's sake, just get your things and be on with it." Not wanting to further aggravate his grumpy sister, Ron, Harry, and Hermione immediately began rounding up their things, with Ronald pocketing half his snacks and shoveling the remaining amount into his mouth, ignoring the fact that this only reinforced Harry's earlier mock. </p><p>Ron was the first out the door of their crowded compartment, only looking up from his snacks when he ran into the one and only person they'd all been planning on avoiding that year. Draco Malfoy. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em> <strong>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~ </strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>With a loud grunt of displeasure, Draco swiftly packed up his things and forced himself out of his compartment, Theo right behind him. As soon as his crossed the threshold between the compartment and the hallway, he collided with something very tall, very orange, very freckled, and very angry.</p><p>He narrowed his eyes, the frown on his face deepening as he snarled, "Weasel. Fancy seeing you here."</p><p>Weasley took a moment to register who exactly he had run into, and a scowl of his own played on his face as he hissed, "Ferret, you right foul git. Come back to Hogwarts, have you? Well if you know what's good for you, then stay away from me and my friends, for fear that we might hex you to hell and back on sight." After looking slightly contemplative for a split second he added, "Well actually, upon further thought, pop up whenever you like. I wouldn't mind watching you suffer <em>one. Little. Bit." </em></p><p>"Be my guest. I'd rather enjoy seeing slugs pour out of your mouth a second time, which is rather plausible considering your track record." He put on a signature Malfoy smirk at the look of rage on Weasley's rather unattractive face. </p><p>"Leave him alone, Malfoy," warned Potter, whose messy head popped up suddenly from behind Weasley. "In case you haven't noticed, you aren't really all that <em>welcome </em>here after everything you've done. So I suggest you move along before Ron fulfills his promise." </p><p>"Very well, <em>Potter. </em>I'll be seeing you around then, won't I." He'd been trying to come off as intimidating, but really, he sounded rather petty. To salvage what was left of his pride, he turned and marched down the aisle of the train without looking back. He could hear Weasley threatening him from behind his back, and what sounded to be an annoyed Granger telling him to just to "Leave Malfoy alone". Absolute bollocks; Granger had really lost the plot. That wasn't going to happen anytime soon now, was it. That filthy little mudblood thought she was so commanding and dignified, didn't she? He scoffed and stormed off the train.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Draco sat down primly at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, Pansy trailing behind him. She never did get over him, the damned plonker. She was really getting on his nerves lately, with all her <em>Draco this! </em>And <em>Draco that! </em>Did she really think that he was interested in her? By the looks of how she was batting her stubby eyelashes, yes, it did seem that she had the completely outlandish idea that he fancied her. How did he even put up with her for that many years? Between her and the Weasel, he wasn't completely sure of how he hadn't just taken an Avada Kedavra to himself yet. </p><p>Glancing over at the Gryffindor table, for no reason whatsoever, he saw Weasel's eyes darting back and forth between the nosh in front of him and Granger, who was seated to his left, as if he was deciding which he would rather save in an emergency. Pathetic. His parents must've really put a spinner in the works when they had him, from the looks of his clearly misplaced affection. Granger lacked in both the looks and personality department, yet Weasel still fancied her. Absobloodylutely pathetic. </p><p>He shifted his line of vision to the two people seated directly in front of the pair. Weaselette and Potter. Was it possible that there was an even more <em>repulsive</em> couple than the Weasel and Granger? Evidently so. Potter draped a lazy arm over his girlfriend's shoulders and she turned and laughed at something he'd said, eye's shining. Godric's hairy arse. Their public displays of affection were completely unwelcome. Gag. </p><p>He turned his head abruptly back to Theo when Potter turned around, catching him staring at the back of his curly black head, and tossing him a cold glare. Great. Now that the tosser had seen Draco staring at them, he was never going to hear the end of it. Breaking the scowl, Potter tightened his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder and turned back to his group of misfits. He scanned the area around them, noticing Longbottom, Lovegood (wasn't she in Ravenclaw?), and a yacking Seamus Finnegan, who was gesturing his arms in a way that suggested he was telling a battle story. <em>Probably one involving my family, </em>Draco thought with a pang in his gut. <em>MOST DEFINITELY NOT GUILT. </em>A Malfoy never felt bad for his actions. Why should he be any different? </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Would you look at that...a sight Harry never, not once in his lifetime, thought he would ever see. He could have sworn he saw Malfoy watching them with what seemed to be jealousy. He stole another quick glance in Malfoy's general direction, to find (thankfully) that he had looked away and had turned his complete attention to snarling at that Parkinson girl. Harry almost felt bad for her, then completely revoked that thought. Even before the war, he'd never been friendly with her, and her stance in the fighting certainly didn't do any wonders with that.</p><p>In the Before Times, as Harry called them, the Gryffindors and Slytherins had a sort of unspoken, unwritten contract testifying their disliking and coldness for each other. He liked to believe that he was the exact opposite of the snooty buggers, wishing that he had a clean slate he could rub in their faces. But they had all done things in the war that no person, especially child, should ever have had to. Slytherins and Gryffindors in general were supposed to be polar opposites. But Harry remembered how close he'd been to being put into Slytherin himself. A shiver of utmost disgust ran down his spine like frost kissed spiders as he thought about how different things would have been. </p><p>A sharp jab on his left shoulder brought him from his thoughts, and he looked down to see Ginny, the culprit, staring up at him expectantly.</p><p>"What was that for, you nutter?" Harry questioned teasingly. </p><p>"<em>Harry," </em>came Hermione's response from across the table, "<em>I asked </em>you a <em>question.</em>" She tapped her finger impatiently on the wooden Gryffindor table, and it made a soft tap, the heavily bitten fingernails barely touching the table with each tap. Harry looked at her sheepishly, opening his mouth to ask her to repeat when a commotion behind caused his head to turn. He didn't NEED to look, of course, he could already quite accurately guess who the source of it was. But he glanced behind anyways, and what he saw and heard caught him off guard completely. </p><p>Draco Malfoy had now turned his anger to another person at the table, but this time it was just complete, hot rage. He stood, his eyes brimming with fury induced tears.</p><p>"I TRUSTED YOU WITH ONE BLOODY SECRET you absolute KNOB HEAD," he screamed, "But you had to tell the whole BLOODY table! I didn't want anyone else to know! Anyone! But you couldn't keep your trap shut, COULD YOU!" Malfoy was going on and on like this, just hollering at a tall, very surprised looking Blaise Zabini. </p><p>"Oh for GOD'S SAKE, don't get your knickers in a twist," Blaise yelled back, "You should have TOLD ME NOT TO TELL ANYONE!" In a slightly gentler tone, he added, "Draco we don't care if you're gay or whatever, don't you understand that you're our friend and none of us give a shite?"</p><p>The whole Great Hall went dead silent. Teachers included. What the hell had they just heard? </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em> <strong>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~ </strong> </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Draco thought himself to be the most dimwitted and naive wizard in the history of time. Even more so than his muggle counterparts. This was all Draco could think of as he lay staring at the dimly lit curtains of his four poster bed. He groaned and rolled onto his stomach, burying his face in his dark emerald clad pillow, and recounted the events of that night against his will, his brain playing them over and over and over. </p><p>
  <em> He saw Pansy whisper something in Theo's ear. Theo frowned, and Draco would hear him say "Pans, I doubt it. I bet it's all in your head." </em>
</p><p>
  <em> She shook her head visibly, and then turned to Blaise. From the way her mouth moved, he could tell she was repeating what she said to Theo. Blaise shrugged his shoulders with that "maybe, how should I know?" face, and turned to Draco.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> "Draco why've you been acting so weird lately? You've just been ignoring us all, especially Pansy, and giving us the cold shoulder. All we want to do is just talk to you, and every time we try to, you push us away." </em>
</p><p>
  <em> "Yeah Draco," Pansy chimed in accusingly, "I'm just trying to be kind." She put her hand on his hand and smiled at him. He shuddered and pulled away. </em>
</p><p><em> Blaise gave him a disappointed glare. " </em> That <em>is exactly what we were talking about, Draco," and then much quieter, so only Draco heard, "She fancies you quite a bit, don't you know?" </em></p><p>
  <em>"Yeah I bloody know, but I will never, ever like her like that," came his half whispered half snarled response.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Just give her a chance, won't you? You've gotta just give her a chance, you know she does so much for you, it's the least you could do for h-" He was cut off by a hissed retort.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Don't you get it? Haven't you noticed that between all the damned years you've known me I've never ever been with a girl? I don't like them! I'm not that way!" </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Blaise actually looked a bit shocked at this. But instead of responding to what Draco had said, he turned to Pansy. And told her. Loudly. Blaise Zabini just outed him to the rest of their little group and he could hear it spreading like wildfire on dry brush along the table. Completely flabbergasted and enraged, he started screaming at Blaise at the top of his lungs. </em>
</p><p><em>And only to make matters a hell of a lot worse, Blaise retorted with, </em> <em> "Draco we don't care if you're gay or whatever, don't you understand that you're our friend and none of us give a shite?"  </em></p><p><em> The Hall was so quiet as everyone listened to the fight, as everyone took Draco's own private information and tucked it away into their pockets.  </em> Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. <em>Draco was absolutely mortified. </em></p><p><em>This is fanbloodytastic, </em>he thought, shutting off the replay right there, not wanting to relive any more of it. Now the whole DAMNED SCHOOL knew. Casting a quick Muffliato, Draco curled up on his bed and cried his eyes out, wanting nothing more than to stay in the safety of the ebony curtains, where there were no Potters, no Weasels, no Zabinis, nobody. Just him and the comfort of the quiet. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. de·spond·ent</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <strong>~Perspective of Harry Potter~ </strong>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>The bizarre encounter between Malfoy and Zabini never really left the back of Harry's head. Not that day, not that week, not even that month. He wasn't against who Malfoy was, he was just...really surprised. All of their years at Hogwarts, it'd been rumored that Malfoy was such a ladies man, always with a different girl. And Harry had, though he felt shame for it now, believed those rumors.</p><p>This could also just have been word on the street, though it seemed far less likely. The reaction on Malfoy's face when Blaise yelled those crippling words was proof enough that it hadn't been a lie. Harry turned this over in his head, remembering that completely crushed look that he'd never seen on Malfoy before, who'd always been so careful to tuck away his emotions. He never showed them, and if emotion ever did seem show through, it was likely just a façade. So it had to have been the truth for him to react in such a strong way. Malfoy's gutted facial expression kept floating around in his mind, and he felt a pang of pity for him, until someone yelling "Mr Potter" in a very impatient voice jolted him out of his thoughts, and not for the first time that day. Good Godric. He really needed to pay more attention to the world around him. </p><p>"Mr Potter," repeated Professor Sprout, "Do try and pay attention during my class. Now you really need to get your venomous tentacula under control, it has come dangerously close to snaring you <em>several </em>times and I'd hate to have to send another student to Madam Pomfrey's with Mr Longbottom." </p><p>Harry looked down at the rather intimidating plant below and began to try to unwind it's death-tight grip from a few of his gloved fingers on his left hand, eventually having to use a severing charm on the ravenous vines. He groaned as another two wound their way around his other hand. After glancing up at Professor Sprout and seeing the rather disappointed look on her face as another two vines joined the few on his hand, he groaned again.</p><p>Usually Herbology was tolerable, but today he found that focus was just out of his grasp. The plant kept poking at him and grabbing his fingers. Fanbloodytastic. He found it utterly unnerving that a plant had so much power, then stole a look at Hermione, who was stationed directly to his left. She was having little to no issues taming her venomous tentacula, in fact, it almost looked like she was petting it...and was she cooing to it? This only confirmed Ron's suspicions that someone had nicked all of her common sense when she was distracted with a nose in a book.</p><p>He smiled to himself as he remembered that exact moment when Ron had whispered about her common sense in the library. It was so quiet, since they'd been perched at a table in an area of the library that wasn't heavily trafficked. So, naturally, Hermione's face immediately shot up from behind the latest edition of Hogwarts: A History as she heard Ron's less than polite remark. Her nose flared a tiny bit when she was mad, and that coupled with her crossed arms gave them the complete Angry Hermione Look. </p><p>"Well, <em>Ronald</em>, at least I'm not busy drooling over other people's clothes while dreaming of mince meat pies." With that said, she tossed him a classic Angry Hermione look, and marched off to go read somewhere less Ronald inhabited. He really didn't blame her. Ron had been a real tosser for the last couple of weeks, and only Harry knew why. They had decided to keep it a secret from Hermione. </p><p>    As he clipped at the evil being in front of him with severing charms, he decided he'd ask Hermione to ask Ron about The Incident after dinner, maybe over a mug of cocoa. The drink seemed to calm everyone down, and sometimes Ron could be so petty, so Hermione needed all the backup she could get. He'd go with her in case things went south. Harry huffed in frustration as another vine snagged at his shirt. It was going to be a long time until dinner. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span class="u">
    <strong>TWO WEEKS PRIOR</strong>
  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>~Perspective of Ronald Weasley~</em>
  </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Ron stabbed angrily at his chicken with a knife, turning it from perfect, crispy golden brown to a mushy vomitesque lump in a matter of seconds. He'd already been in a bad mood from his earlier Transfiguration excursion, where he was supposed to turn a common pebble into an earthworm, instead turning it into a mincemeat pie. He swore he had no idea how that happened...it just did. </p><p>Looking down at the pile of chicken puree in front of him, he swore under his breath at the fact that he'd turned a rather good piece of chicken into rubbish. Ron thought about trying to transfigure it back to its original state, then thought better, fearing he might screw it up and have a chunk of RAW chicken, or even worse, a live chicken in front of him on his dish. So instead, he just started on his next piece of chicken, this time vowing not to turn violent against it for forces it could not control. </p><p>Dinner was really nice. He could just eat and think and talk and eat and eat and mostly eat. He chewed his food happily, finishing all the remnants of his mashed potatoes and gravy. Yes. Dinner was really, really nice. He felt the bench shift beside him and looked to his left, where Hermione had begun gathering her bags and getting up, no doubt going to the library to read or research or whatever. </p><p>"Harry, Ron, Ginny, if you need me I'll be in the library reading up on the properties and behaviors of the venomous tentacula. I heard Professor Sprout might give us some to practice on to gather the leaves for Potions. I want to be ready for anything, so I'm going to go research them in preparation for the future. If you care to join me after dinner, the company would be quite nice...after all, I'm not the only one who's going to have to deal with the plants and you know it will be rather benefi-"</p><p>Harry cut her off before she went rambling on and on about it. "I'll be there, 'Mione," he confirmed, "What about you Ron? Ginny?" </p><p>Ron mumbled an mmhm of agreement as the latter of the two shook her head. "I've got...something with Luna," Ginny explained. </p><p>Hermione nodded, gave a little wave goodbye, and trotted off to the library with the usual pep in her step towards these kinds of things. Ron never understood why someone would <em>want </em>to have such study habits as her. But she seemed perfectly content with learning, and he wondered often why she hadn't been a Ravenclaw. </p><p>Ginny got up from the table and motioned for Luna to follow her. They looked pretty dodgy, and if they wanted to sneak away from dinner, they could have at least tried to look like they had a purpose that wasn't mischief involved. </p><p>"Wonder what they're doing running around like that?" Harry mused, "I think I might grab the cloak and follow them, see what they're up to. Don't tell them, Ron. Ginny will have my head if she knows." And with that, Harry was also gone.</p><p>"DON'T FORGET TO MEET UP WITH HERMIONE LATER," Ron bellowed after him, and the yelled "I KNOW I KNOW" from Harry's general direction confirmed their later library meet up. Ron, now mostly alone, decided he'd go to the library early to study with Hermione. He could practically hear her teasing him in his head, "Who are you and what did you do with Ron? Studying in your free time? Pfft."</p><p>He just smiled to himself, and began the walk to the library. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Ron wove through the aisles of the library searching for that familiar bushy brown head, scanning with his eyes. He was so busy looking for Hermione he didn't hear the soft footsteps behind him.</p><p>"A Weasel in a library <em>voluntarily? </em>I never thought I'd see the day," Malfoy's scoff came from behind him. Well this was fanbloodytastic. Now he had to deal with the Ferret. He spun around angrily, coming face to face, well actually more chin to forehead, with the blond. He took a step back on autopilot, not wanting to be so close. </p><p>"Oh wait, I should have known better than to jump to such <em>preposterous </em>conclusions. Of course you're here looking for your muggleborn girlfriend. I'll never understand why a person with her level of intelligence would stoop so low as to be with you. I mean, you're about as smart as, well, nothing, you have the temper of a badger with its coat on fire, and that hair really just doesn't suit you. I mean I would never take an interest in you, if I were her, it's just such a complete waste." Ron felt his face reddening at the Hermione comment. He was thoroughly pissed. But Malfoy didn't stop there.</p><p>"It's really just her that baffles me, honestly. You know, I used to think to myself about you, 'How could you dirty yourself like that, messing around with that mudblood? How do you feel not even a teaspoon of shame?' But it's not much of a shocker to me now that you're just so desperate you would settle for someone like her. I mean, look at you, really. You've probably hard a hard time with women your whole damned life."</p><p>He thought of bringing up Malfoy's argument with Zabini, but it seemed like that might only make matters worse, so instead he warned in a voice as loud as the library allowed, "Don't you dare call Hermione that name, just SOD OFF, you tosser. I would get the hell out of here if I were you, or I might just hav-" Malfoy interrupted him mid sentence. </p><p>"You might just have to what? Challenge me to a DUEL? Oh god I'm so FRIGHTENED I'm going to have to break my father out of Azkaban to protect me since the Oh Great and Powerful Mudblood Protector is going to positively kick my arse," Malfoy sneered.</p><p>"Well you know what? I DO challenge you to a duel. I'll see you in an hour at the room of requirement, wanker. Bring a second," Ron confirmed, sounding much more cocky than he felt. His stomach twisted into a knot of dread. <em>Oh for Godric's sake</em>. What had he gotten himself into.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~</em>
  </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>Harry was so utterly confused. He followed Ginny and Luna for a good twenty minutes around the school under his invisibility cloak, and they had rounded this one corner, but when HE rounded it, they were completely gone. And there was nothing but a dead end there. He'd walked up to the empty stone wall in front of him, prodding every single stone in it with the tip of his wand, just to see if a passage would open up. But nothing happened. </p><p>Feeling thoroughly outwitted by a castle was a very sad experience, and it tied into feeling defeated by a plant. He could slay the Dark Lord but couldn't tame the vines or figure out where Ginny and Luna had gone. This was indeed a very, very sad experience. He whirled around at the sound of Ron yelling something behind him.</p><p>"OH GOD HARRY I'M SUCH A NUTTER AND I NEED YOU TO SECOND ME IN A DUEL THAT I'VE GOT WITH MALFOY IN A HALF HOUR," Ron panted as he ran up behind Harry, "I've been looking all over for you why are you staring at an empty wall I need you help come the hell on hurry up we need to scram right now!"</p><p>Harry didn't think it was possible, but he was suddenly more baffled than before. "Ron. What the hell were you thinking? What happened and what are you going on about?" </p><p>The information started flowing in a frantic, crashing waterfall out of Ron's mouth. He was done explaining in a matter of minutes. Harry suggested that they tell Hermione where they were going, but Ron really didn't want to.</p><p>"I don't want her to know I'm getting in a duel with Malfoy later just because of some crap he said about her. I don't want to seem like an overprotective tosser, you know?" Harry nodded. </p><p>They decided to just go back and meet Hermione at the library in their spare time, and walked briskly away from the wall, Ron practically radiating his anxiety in neon waves. In Harry's preoccupied state, he ran into the corner of the turn instead of around it. But instead of the impact between the wall and him hurting, he fell right through, and kept falling through this new, dark, abyss. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A special thanks to my Elderly Friend, Tailspin, for editing this for me! I couldn't have done it without your help, you crazybeanhead. *grins maniacally revealing sharp, bloody, vampiresque teeth* I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one will be up within the week. :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. a·nom·a·lous</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b> <em>~Perspective of Luna Lovegood~</em> </b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>Luna skipped along the empty hallway, bag in hand, in quite a cheery mood from that evening with adventure Ginny, even though it got a bit sidetracked on the latter end. Luna bit back a giggle at the memory of Harry poking curiously at all the stones in that wall with his wand, not even knowing that Luna and Ginny had been watching him from under a disillusionment charm the whole time.</p><p>Originally, Ginny had been angry that Harry had followed them, but that was swept away by a towering tsunami of laughter at his extreme confusion regarding where they went. He really could act quite stupid sometimes. Toying absentmindedly with the butterbeer cork necklace strung delicately on her neck, her perky ears picked up the sounds of a rather dumbstruck and frustrated Ron yelling to...nothingness it seemed? Her curiosity took over, her feet automatically turning in the direction of where Ron sounded to be. </p><p>As she came up to a rather familiar corner, the yelling got louder, and she realized that this was where the wall that Harry had been ever so fascinated with was located. It wasn't hard to believe that Ron had joined Harry in the madness of wall poking...they could be such a thick skulled pair at times.</p><p>But when she did round the corner, only Ron was there, pounding furiously with his fists on a spot on the wall near the corner Luna had just rounded. He didn't even notice she was there in his fit and flusterment. </p><p>"Ronald," she spoke in her signature whimsy, soft voice, "Why are you hitting the wall? That must be awfully painful, considering it's solid stone." He looked up at her in a pleading way like he hoped she was some goddess with all the answers to his questions. </p><p>"Luna, oh god, I'm so happy you're here," he started rambling, "the wall ate Harry and Harry is just gone and maybe if I hit the wall hard enough it'll eat me too, I mean I am a worthy wall snack and I'm hoping the wall will eat me so I can find Harry an-," he paused his flushed face turning an unhealthy shade of magenta, "Harry DISAPPEARED into the WALL!" He exclaimed. </p><p>"Oh, of course, I’m guessing that does happen sometimes, you know after they moved the Room of Requirement an all-" </p><p>"THEY WHAT???" Ron rudely interrupted. </p><p>"They moved it after the war, fearing the magical secrecy of the place would be good for secret dark magic practices and such. I overheard McGonagall mentioning it to Professor Slughorn, I really shouldn't have, but I did," she went on, "and I wasn't sure where it was, but I guess you found it then. Congratulations, Ron!" </p><p>He looked decidedly pissed. "Well we REQUIRE him to COME OUT FROM THERE why isn't he coming out!!!"</p><p>To Luna, it seemed that the Room had been altered to be extra hidden, but she didn't see why they had to make it impossible to escape. </p><p>"Perhaps he needs to will himself out of the room," she thought out loud, "maybe he needs to want it enough for it to let him go...akin to how you used to need to want it enough to let you in."</p><p>"Well, <em> Room of Requirement, </em>I'm guessing Harry wants to LEAVE your DAMNED CLUTCHES! I've been sitting here for HOURS and-" the blood drained from his face. He looked as though he'd just witnessed Snape himself cartwheeling about with unicorns on a flowery field in mid May. </p><p>"I missed it, oh Merlin's hairy arse, oh shite, oh god I missed it," he repeated over and over, "I MISSED IT I MISSED IT THIS IS FANBLOODYTASTIC I am officially the Wanker of the Week." Before Luna could ask any questions, he had already risen from his spot on the floor, turned on his heel with a skidding noise, and was sprinting down the hallway to god knows where. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Luna Lovegood had been abandoned in an empty hallway precisely two hours prior. She rarely felt embitterment towards situations like this, being such a patient and gentle person, but time was flying by and she had no clue how to get Harry from the clutches of the wall.</p><p>To make matters worse, about an hour after Ron ran away in a fit, he returned, his frustration replaced by a full blown hissy fit. She knew it was him as soon as she heard the mile long string of profanities coming from the hall; he could be so irritable. Without even saying hi, he only demanded to know if she'd figured out how to get Harry back. When she responded with no, he lost it, and completely went off. Trying her hardest to keep calm, she asked what had him worked up so terribly. He yelled at her to mind her own business and stormed away, not even bothering to offer help with the Harry situation. </p><p>So one hour later from that slightly infuriating interaction, Luna was lying on the floor next to the wall and thinking. If Harry had merely bumped into the wall without even trying to enter, maybe she had to find a way to make herself to just pass through the wall by taking her mind off the wall. She leaned up against the wall, tucked her legs into a criss cross position, brought out the latest edition of the newly remade Quibbler, and began to read. </p><p>Some time later, Luna thought she had dozed off at the familiar sensation of falling out of sleep, jolting her to her senses. It took her several moments to realize she was actually falling through darkness, and gave out a small squeak of surprise as she collided with a soft, warm, lump that let out an "OergOfh" as she landed. The soft warm lump suddenly scrambled up with a frightened yelp and lit a bright lumos. </p><p>"Luna?" Came Harry's voice as he realized who had landed on top of him.</p><p>"Ah, Harry! It's quite good to see you, I've been waiting to be granted entry to this space for quite some time now."</p><p>He looked mildly confused at the fact that she wasn't freaking out after having fallen many feet from a good height through a wall into an unknown dark room where Harry happened to be trapped as well.</p><p>"Alright so I'm guessing since you spent so much time getting in you know how to get out...?" He trailed off as she shook her head. </p><p>"I decided to come in here to see what it was like and discover that from the inside. After all, if I didn't find you, Ron would have had a cow. We'll eventually figure it out I suppose," came her airy response. </p><p>"Oh god <em> Ron!!!! </em>I promised him I'd help him with his-" Harry paused, "-issue. He's going to have my head when he sees me again, and YOU CAME HERE WITHOUT FIGURING IT OUT FIRST?" he belted, a look of exasperation on his face.</p><p>"He did seem a bit worked up, but he'll come to his senses, and yes, I was curious and you needed help, so let's begin picking this place apart, shall we?" It wasn't a question, it was a command, and from the rarely seen impatient glint in her eyes, she really wanted to begin.  Harry nodded, and they began their empty journey to the way out. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> <b> <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~ </em> </b></p><p> </p><p>"Luna?" Harry called as he felt his way along one of the many walls of the room, trying to find her in the vast space. </p><p>"Harry, I'm right behind you." Her voice startled him as he spun around to come face to face with her, wondering how long she'd been following him. </p><p>But that train of thought was cut off by a sudden searing burst of pain is his right calf as the wall <em> shot </em>something into it, piercing his flesh and hurting like hell. </p><p>"LuNa! Get away from this wall!" He bellowed, just as he heard a small shriek coming from her direction, cutting through his words mid sentence. He bolted away to their previous position to the left away from that particular wall and grabbed Luna's arm mid sprint, dragging her along.</p><p>"Bloody hell!!! What in the name of Godric's hairy arse was THAT?!" Harry exclaimed as they collapsed in a previously determined safe corner. </p><p>Luna grimaced and clutched the deep cut on her right forearm, whispering healing spells quickly to mend the gash in Harry's calf, then doing the same for herself. "Well," she began, "The wall threw knives at us. I suggest we don't touch it anymore. That seems the most logical thing to do." </p><p>He had to laugh at how startlingly calm she was in a situation like this and was about to respond to her when he noticed small pinpricks of holes forming on the hard floor beneath them. The reddish, shallow spots of their mingled blood that dotted the floor drained into these holes, and then the holes were gone. They just vanished like that, in a quarter of a second. </p><p>"Fascinating," was all Luna said, speaking directly to the floor. </p><p>"What the hell?" Harry wondered in fearful unease. The blood had completely disappeared from the ground. And at that exact moment, he heard a whisper of a familiar voice and felt the familiar tug under his navel as the world spun and transformed. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>His eyes popped back open as soon as the spinning stopped, revealing that he and Luna had been strewn across the floor of the hallway outside of the secret room. Luna stood up and shook out her long blond waves, gathering up her book bag, which had been tossed a few feet away from her. </p><p>"That was rather curious, wasn't it? As soon as we bled, we were thrown right out of that room...I thought blood magic was banned here, but I suppose that doesn't stop people from using it..." she wondered out loud as she helped Harry to his feet. Looking rather disheveled and thoroughly shocked speechless, Harry ran two hands through his thick, black hair and swore. </p><p>"What the hell was that? What the hell just happened? We need to ask, I don't know, maybe Hermione about this, this isn't right at all, damnit, not at all, not in any way, shape or form." </p><p>Luna nodded in agreement as the shaken pair righted themselves. She casted a quick Muffliato on them as they slipped under Harry's invisibility cloak, so they wouldn't be heard or seen; he was quite sure that it was hours past their curfew, and neither Luna nor himself had Head Boy or Head Girl curfew privileges. </p><p>"Where are we off to now?" Luna's voice startled him from his left as he realized they'd just been wandering on autopilot in the direction of the library. </p><p>"Maybe to the library, we're already heading in that direction, and we can look into this a tad to gather information on what just happened," he responded. His body felt worn out, but his brain was buzzing with curiosity, crossing out sleep from his list of options. </p><p>"Alright then, Harry," Luna said with a soft smile, “Nothing like topping off the night with some light reading.” Harry couldn’t help but release a snort of amusement at her words. She was really something else.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Several hours and four aisles of books later, Harry rubbed his eyes, wilting without the rest he needed after such a long, eventful night. So far, he could find almost no information on the use of blood magic in forms like that, and the few sentences that merely mentioned blood magic were vague and ineffectual. <em>"Blood magic is a form of dark magic used to seal and uphold power and secrets." </em>He shook his head and thought, <em>Yeah, who knew? What a surprise. </em></p><p>Luna and him regrouped in the third aisle from the entrance to quietly compare research. Both of them came up practically empty handed, save for a book Luna found with some old runes that seemed to have mentioned blood magic. They flopped down into the velvety push chairs surrounding one of the studying tables in the aisle to translate the runes, determined for answers. Some time late, they still sat in silence deciphering them, and all of a sudden Luna's head snapped up in a blur of blond. She cast a wordless disillusionment charm (since when could she do wordless magic?) and did the same with a muffliato. </p><p>Suddenly on edge by her behavior, Harry, too, brought his eyes up from the book and listened intently. And there they were. The softest hint of footsteps on the naturally muffleling, carpeted floor of the library. He would never have noticed them, but Luna was always so perceptive; he was grateful it was her and not Ron in that library. </p><p>The footstops grew closer, the thump on the floor loudening significantly. Harry's heart thudded in his chest with adrenaline, praying it wasn't Filch or worse...Malfoy. But as a lanky, chestnut brown haired figure came into view from behind the bookcase, Harry was momentarily relieved to see it wasn't either of the two dreaded candidates. But that relief dissolved as he saw the green and silver of a Slytherin tie beneath the robes.</p><p>He wracked his brain to put a name to this familiar face, when Luna said to Harry, "I think it's Theodore Nott!" Harry jumped at her speech, then realized they were muffled and under the disillusionment charm, and calmed down significantly. But it happened to be that when Harry moved his elbow, it pushed the book on the table onto the floor...right at Nott's feet. Goody. This was going perfectly. </p><p>Nott reacted immediately, drawing his wand and casting the quickest Incantatem Harry had ever seen. So in a matter of seconds, he and Luna were visible, sitting awkwardly at the table. </p><p>"Ah, Ms. Luna Lovegood and Mr. Harry Potter. Fancy seeing you here." </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. pre·sump·tu·ous</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sorry it took so long to post this chapter. I'm juggling a couple projects right now along with this one. Anyways, I hope the jumps in time aren't too confusing. If they are, let me know. :)</p><p>Enjoy hopefully!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Theodore Nott, nine hours prior of </em>
  </b>
  <b>
    <em>The Harry Incident</em>
  </b>
  <b>
    <em>~</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Theo's eyes felt like they were being stabbed by tiny angry werewolves with pitchforks from inside of his skull. He smashed his palms into his face at a furious attempt to squish away the pain, only to realize when he opened his eyes and saw rainbow spots edging his vision that he'd made it worse...much worse. Behind the blotches in his sight stood the instigator of his mind splitting headache. Draco, in all his snooty blonde glory, was standing with both hands on his hips pacing indignantly about the Room of Requirement, angrily spouting insults directed towards the Weasel, as he'd called him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That stupid, tangerine brat didn't even have the guts to show at his own duel. How predictable. I should have guessed this behavior from a Weasley. Then again, that git's skull is </span>
  <em>
    <span>so damn empty </span>
  </em>
  <span>that I wager he might've even forgotten about it in the first place. He probably can't even decipher the instructions on cheap muggle shampoo. And to think I took </span>
  <em>
    <span>precious time out of my day </span>
  </em>
  <span>just to be flaked on by a pediculous caveman," he huffed, the loud words echoing about the room in an eardrum punching manner. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Draco, really, if you keep going on like this when we're out of the Room, people will begin to believe you fancy him, after that stunt you pulled with Blaise at the start of term." Draco whirled around, that cold, glowering look much too familiar at the sound of Theo's words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barely audible but with iron force, he asked slowly, "A stunt? Is that what you lot have been telling yourselves this whole bloody time?" He cackled at the padded ceiling of the room and Theo feared that he had truly lost his wits this time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why are all of you such thick skulled dipsticks? Every word was true! And I don't care what you think but it was true," Draco spoke, voice wavering a bit on the last line. Theo dared to gape in shock. Well this was quite the surprise...they had always assumed that Draco had been quite a bedswerver with the ladies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh," he said dumbly at the boy in front of him, who completely ignored the act of surprised stupidity. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And just so you know," Draco locked his steel eyes with Theo's, "I don't give a shite about what you think. Or about any of this. I know that Blaise hasn’t accepted me, even though he claimed to have. I know Pansy thinks I'm lying, when I tried to explain. So I don't need to hear your opinion," his voice softened a bit more, "I just need you to understand." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo nodded quietly. "Ok," he mumbled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco cocked an elegant eyebrow. "Ok? Really? Just ok? No spouting pureblood crap?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo shook his head. "Just ok. I don't really care honestly...just ok. The last person I want to become is my father. He made it clear every waking moment of my life that he’d thrown a spanner in the works by having me as his son. I don’t want to be a man like him, and I don’t even believe his twisted ideas.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco looked rather surprised. “I swear to God, if this is some Gryffindor nutcase using polyjuice to prank me, I’ll have your head.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo ignored him “I just don’t want that for myself anymore, you know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wish I could be like you and know what I wanted from my life so I could just reach out and take it.” Draco said quietly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, unless Weasley comes late and kills you, you should have plenty of time to figure it out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco let out a short bark of cold, dark laughter. “At least if that happens, I won’t have to deal with this craphole of a life.” It was the comment that shut them both up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neither of them said a word as they made their way to their dorm. Neither of them said a word as they collapsed into their beds. Neither of them said a word as they tossed and turned behind their curtains for hours, the silence speaking for them. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Theo crossed the threshold into the library, inhaling the smell of old parchment and dust. After a very long time of staring at the curtains of his bed, he had realized that sleep was never going to come. Which was why he found himself there, pacing through the aisles of books, with no particular goal in mind, not even realizing he’d skipped a disillusionment spell. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After much destination free walking through the shelves, he picked up </span>
  <em>
    <span>One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi </span>
  </em>
  <span>by Phyllida Spore. That would make him sleepy; it was such a boring book. He tucked it into his robes, and walked to turn the corner to go sit at his favorite table, slightly on edge from being out past curfew. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He made his way over to his table, and was about to grab a chair and sit down, when the book that’d been on the table all of a sudden took a diving leap onto the floor in front of him. He pulled out his wand and cast an Incantatem in a split, second, nerves screaming with surprise. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And there before him, looking like dogs caught stealing food from their owners, sat Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood. It was slightly amusing to see how on edge they were at his presence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, Ms. Luna Lovegood and Mr. Harry Potter. Fancy seeing you here.” They stared at him as if they’d just seen Filch in a miniskirt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nott,” Potter acknowledged, as he tapped his wand to replace the muffliato that Theo had broken.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Theodore, what brings you here at this rather late hour?” Luna asked in her Luna-ish fashion. He noticed she called him by his first name.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, nothing much, just the usual. Meeting up with all my death eater buddies to have a death eater party. And you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry and I were doing some research on a funky death room we found.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter shot a glare at Luna. “Luna!” He warned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo laughed. “Oh please, who am I going to tell? It was very vague anyways.” To prove his point, he rolled up his sleeve, revealing untouched skin where he could tell Potter had assumed was a dark mark. “See? I’m harmless. Like an innocent bunny in the forest.” Potter raised an eyebrow and snorted, but seemed eased by the fact that Theo didn’t carry a dark mark.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna just smiled. It was very unsettling, how calm and smiley she was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When nobody said anything, Theo continued, “Since we both have found ourselves out past curfew in this book dungeon at night, why don’t you elaborate on this ‘funky death room’ that has, I must admit, captured my utmost intrigue?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter still looked rather suspicious of him. “I don’t see why I should tell you. Years of your belief in blood ostracism wouldn’t just go down the drain.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo put on a bored face and sat down with them at the table, tapping his slender fingers against the worn wood. “Potter, Potter, Potter. I never believed that bullcrap. I just...spouted it,” his face grew serious, “I am not and won’t be my father. I’m going to run off and do my own thing. Not very Slytherin of me, is it? Funny how a few years ago I would have never dreamed of saying those words and...poof. Look at where I am now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s lovely, Theodore.” Luna patted his hand. It was very weird, so he just offered a lopsided smile. Potter took notice of this and leaned back into his chair, rubbing his eyes in what seemed to be an attempt at sleep banishing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Very well, Nott, but only because you came from a family where you might actually know some about what we’re trying to figure out. Go on, Luna, tell him about it. What hurt could it bring?” Potter still looked a bit weary, but didn’t protest as Luna began recounting her night’s adventure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When she got to the bit about Ron, Potter put his face in his hands with exasperation, and Theo just laughed. She looked rather confused at both of their reactions, and Potter and him both gave their sides of what had happened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well at least I can calm down Draco. He was rather angry about the fact that he didn’t get to kick Weasley’s arse...or get his arse kicked, of course,” he added with a grin at Potter’s expression. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the end, the bunch knew about the same amount as they had when they’d begun. Theo recognized it was definitely blood magic, but all of them were stumped as to the purpose of the Room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now that you’ve let me in on your fascinating research, I think it’s only fair I consider myself at least an acquaintance to you both.” Theo said airily, waving his arm about. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Acquaintance?” Luna blinked. “I would have happily settled on friend.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo smiled lopsidedly. “Friend, then, Miss. Lovegood?” He stuck out his hand and she shook it firmly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Friend is good,” she agreed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Potter, I’m assuming you don’t want anything more than an acquaintance, even though I,” he gestured at himself dramatically, “Am the literal walking definition of amazing.” The corner of Potter’s mouth tilted up a bit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Acquaintance for now, but that’s only because you might come in handy.” Theo feigned mock offense, but shook the hand that Potter stuck out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll pick up this conversation again tomorrow, then?” Luna asked hopefully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, Lovegood, sure.”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Ronald Weasley~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ron was furious at Harry for getting stuck in the wall. He knew he sounded irrational as he yelled at his best friend, but he was just </span>
  <em>
    <span>livid </span>
  </em>
  <span>at the fact that he’d practically let Malfoy win. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ron! For god’s sake! Do you even hear yourself?” Harry shouted at Ron the next morning when he’d woken to see Ron standing angrily over his bed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“YOU LET THE DAMNED FERRET WIN FOR GOD’S SAKE!!!!! I MISSED IT bEcAUsE of yOu!!” Ron hollered back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ron, if I wanted to kill myself, all I would have to do is climb to the top of your ego and jump down to your common sense!” Harry huffed, crossing his arms, “It’s not my fault that random walls have it out for me and want to cut me up! Calm down!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Calm down? CALM DOWN? HARRY you expect me to let the ferret win?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh stuff it Ron. Salazar’s arse, it’s passed. I know it’s Malfoy and all, but really, blaming it on me? That’s a new low to put in your Book of Record Lows. Which, might I add, is on its way to several sequels.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ron felt a pang of guilt. It wasn’t right of him to be blaming something so small and petty on Harry, he knew, but his anger and dignity ruled his choices right then, so instead of apologizing, he stormed off in search of breakfast. Food would make him feel better...it always did. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ron shovelled all his books into his bag in one quick, desperate swipe, and hurried after Hermione, who whirled angrily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know what’s going on between you and Harry, but I’ve got a feeling that it’s all because of something petty you’ve done.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“HERMIONE! It wasn’t me! I swear it! Why are you mad at </span>
  <em>
    <span>me?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She huffed. “Well whatever’s going on has Harry in quite a terrible mood, and you’re acting quite foul yourself. I’m not mad at you, Ronald, but I just hate it when you two fight. You become little children, not even caring if you are right, just wanting to win. Me and Ginny have to act like voices of reason just to calm you two down.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ron crossed his arms in a kiddish way. “Why won’t you just let us work out our </span>
  <em>
    <span>own </span>
  </em>
  <span>issues?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because neither of you are sophisticated enough to do it yourselves,” came her half sighed response. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he didn’t even bother to protest her words, she added, “And also, I know something happened, because you never showed up at the library. Either of you. And then you came back minutes after curfew in an angry heap and ran up the stairs to your dorm. You know, Ronald, you are the worst at hiding things.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not at all true! I can be very secretive and sneaky when I want to. I’m hiding loads of things right now, and you haven’t a clue.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that so? Might you inform me as to what these </span>
  <em>
    <span>things </span>
  </em>
  <span>are?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned scarlet and said, “Uhh...I ate three platefulls for breakfast and you thought I had two?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She slapped his arm playfully and shook her head. “Rubbish. I knew it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They exited the library and began walking to the Great Hall when Ron spotted Harry and Luna talking to someone out of the corner of his eye. Theodore Nott. He hissed internally. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“HARRY! LUNA! What the hell? Now you’ve gone off and began </span>
  <em>
    <span>FRATERNIZING WITH DEATH EATERS? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Are you BLOODY SERIOUS?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, but he’s his godson.” Nott answered nonchalantly, his eyes cold. Luna had the nerve to smile at the Slytherin, then turned to Ron, surprising him with her words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not any of your business who Harry and I enjoy speaking with. Now kindly move on and let me talk to my </span>
  <em>
    <span>friends </span>
  </em>
  <span>in </span>
  <em>
    <span>peace.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll be talking later, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Harry!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ron snarled, then turned on his heel to make his way to the great hall, towing Hermione behind him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She pulled her arm away. “Ron, I have no idea what’s up with you, but I can tell it isn’t Harry causing the issues. So clear it up, or you won’t be seeing much of me, either.” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. un·plumbed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Okay so there's another slightly confusing time jump in this chapter, but if you think back to a previous chapter, this time jump will hopefully make sense. I labeled it, too. I hope it is understandable and I hope you enjoy it! :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b> <em>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~ </em> </b>
</p><p>Draco was much too used to staring at the curtains of his bed. Whether the insomnia was from stress, or sadness, or anger (usually towards himself), he would always be forced to stare at the bed curtains. </p><p>That night, though, he wasn’t feeling much of anything. He wasn’t anxious, or depressed, or piqued at all. It wasn’t even a peaceful sort of nothing. It was just...unsettling. He had so many thoughts going through his head, and none of them registered with any actual definable emotions. </p><p>His feelings were just a knot in his stomach. Not guilt, or anything like that. He reckoned it might be an identity crisis of sorts, and for good reason. Draco had no idea what he wanted. Not from his life, not from himself, not from anyone else. He’d just been living in a world where day in and day out, nothing changed.</p><p>Not really, at least. Not until he’d spent some time back at Hogwarts. </p><p>The glares and insults had never really bothered him before. But after coming back, they got much worse. He’d been seen publicly displaying his loyalty to the Dark Lord and had aided in the murder of their Headmaster. Their glares and insults were well placed for once, in fact. </p><p>He loathed his choices, that went without questioning. He wanted to change. This road he’d taken was never his choice to begin with. He wouldn’t go so far and befriend any Gryffindors (he shuddered at the thought), but he knew he wanted people to know that he had changed. There were just so many obstacles in the way. Well, mostly just one big one:</p><p>His goddamned family.</p><p>Draco shifted in the bed uncomfortably as he thought of their trial at the Ministry. The way the Wizengamot stared at them behind plum robes, some with hatred, but most disturbingly, some with respect. He and his mother had been let off the hook with fairly light charges, the confiscation of wands for a short couple of months, and the limited wand use for some time after, but his father wasn’t so lucky. Having been witnessed participating in several dark acts, his father was sentenced to home confinement by magic. He couldn’t leave the premises of the Malfoy property, and personally, Draco didn’t think even his father deserved that light of a punishment. He might have defected to save his own son, but he’d done unspeakable things that he needed to pay for.</p><p><br/>Not to mention how at the trial, his father had  attempted to drag his own family down with him, stating they joined Voldemort’s forces of their own free will. Absolute bullshite. They’d joined because he’d thrown them head first into it. And every time he’d seen his father since the trial, Lucius had made it clear he wished he’d never defected and let his son undergo whatever fate had planned. Which didn’t exactly make Draco feel entirely good inside, considering he was attempting to break free of his family’s practices and become an entirely different person. </p><p>Not to mention his gayness, which he’d realized was a thing when he’d seen a very muscular shirtless man on the cover of a muggle magazine. How would they take that? Not well, he assumed. His parents had always pushed him to create an <em> almighty heir </em>that would be a powerful, godlike, very blond Malfoy and smack sense into the wizarding folk of the age, which wasn’t even possible at this point, not to mention the generations upon generations of hating on homosexuality. They would attempt to tie him down with an arranged marriage, probably with that Greengrass girl. They’d spoken once, and she’d made it clear that if they ever had to get married, she’d poison his morning tea out of spite. He’d told her that if was married to her, he’d willingly drink it. </p><p>That didn’t go down well with his family, and it seemed that they were even more set on getting the two together after that encounter. </p><p>His peers always thought he was into Astoria. Why did they always assume he liked every girl he met? It was the most out there assumption on the planet, considering nobody had ever caught him even <em> holding hands </em> with a girl, let alone <em> snogging one, </em> which he would <b> <em>never. </em> </b>But the rumor mill of Hogwarts worked like fiendfyre, spreading from person to person in a matter of hours, each of them stupidly believing whatever shite they were told. </p><p>But when the actual truth came out, everyone thought it was fake. How strange these people were to believe the argument he’d had with Blaise was a hoax. </p><p>But until he knew what exactly he was going to do with himself, Draco would let them believe whatever the hell they wanted. </p><p>He was abruptly jolted from his thoughts as he heard a shuffling coming from Theo’s side of the dorm. Peeking through his curtains, he saw the tall frame sneak out of the room, clearing the threshold in two long steps. Draco reckoned Theo hadn’t slept much either, and he had nothing better to do, so he cast a disillusionment charm on himself and followed Theo out. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The corridor was chilly as Draco tiptoed after Theo. It looked like they were headed to the library, which was strange for Theo. There were plenty of other places he enjoyed hiding in when sleep didn’t come. </p><p>He followed Theo into the library, and proceeded to watch him pace through the aisles for quite some time, following closely on his trail, the carpet muffling his already feather light footsteps. He jumped with a start at the sound of muffled whispers coming from the aisle next to where he was, Theo on the other side of the bookcase. Peeking around the corner quietly, he saw something very strange, and had to do a double take before he believed his eyes. </p><p>Theo, heir of the all powerful Nott, was speaking in a <em> friendly tone </em> to none other than <em> Harry Potter </em> and <em> Luna Lovegood. </em> It was a considerably startling sight to behold. Draco bit his tongue to stop from calling out as Theo and the Gryffindors suddenly disappeared from his view, <em> Theo actually smiling, </em>and couldn’t be heard. </p><p>He turned swiftly, and headed back to the Slytherin dorms, filled with an unidentifiable anger that burned inside him, boiling his blood, and lacing his vision with red.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>~Perspective of Hermione Granger, Back to Two Weeks Later~</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>Ron was being such a git lately. His foul mood had spoiled too many dinners and too many <em> peaceful friendship moments </em>and Hermione was absolutely fed up. She realized she was practically huffing in rage at the book in her lap, and quickly looked up to make sure nobody had seen. When the coast was confirmed clear, she got back to her angry thoughts. </p><p>Ever since Ron had seen Harry and Luna with Theodore, he’d been a complete bugger. He had an unhealthy prejudice against all Slytherins, and his immaturity caused far too many quarrels and hexes that could have easily been avoided in the first place. He’d gone absolutely mad when he realized that Hermione, too, had begun hanging around with Theodore. In fact, she even considered herself Theodore’s friend. His lively spirits, sassiness, and good humor always lightened the mood. And then Ron would come and drench it all in rotting sewer water. </p><p>He’d never <em> really </em>mended things with Harry...they mostly just ignored their fights and kept going on with life, which Hermione thought was a very unhealthy friendship. But since when did they listen to her opinions? </p><p>Harry had spoken to her earlier that evening, telling her she needed to confront Ron about his behavior of late, and ask him to explain what was going on. He knew, of course, but they’d kept her in the dark. Like usual. </p><p>“Hermione! Reading again, I see. What are your eyes feasting upon on this lovely evening?” Theo said in a sing-song voice as he approached from across the library aisle. </p><p>“<em> An Anthology of Eighteenth Century Charms. </em>It’s quite fascinating, really. What brings you here?” </p><p>“Oh,” he grinned, “I just wanted to gather some information on your dear Ronald. I hear the two boys of the golden trio have been keeping secrets.”</p><p>Hermione’s shot up from her book. “Now where exactly did you hear that? You weren’t eavesdropping, were you?” As his grin widened even more, she scolded, “Theodore Nott, I really did expect exemplary behavior from a prefect like yourself.” </p><p>“Oh, Salazar’s arse, stop, yes I was eavesdropping just a <em> little </em>bit. Not that much. So I will ask you again. What’s the deal with Weasel?” </p><p>“Don’t call him that! And I’m not really that sure about what happened, honestly. One day in October I suppose he and Harry got in a fight and such, and he’s been in a childish mood ever since.” </p><p>Theo’s eyebrows raised a bit. “I know what this is about, yes, yes, I do. Don’t worry, it's nothing much, and you’ll know soon enough.” </p><p>Before she could prod any further, he turned on his heel and walked away, humming a tune to himself as he disappeared into the books once more. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>Draco had never confronted Theo about what he saw in the library. He just suppressed his anger towards the boy, and acted as if nothing happened. </p><p>But really, he knew that wasn’t true.</p><p>Since that night, he’d been reading into his emotions, trying to find out why he’d been so livid at the sight of Theo and the Gryffindors. That anger was just there and undefinable, but it would flair up like crazy whenever he saw Potter or Lovegood around. He was lying in his bed again, and it was half past two in the morning. Really late or really early, depending on how you thought of it. Either way, he was still staring at his bed curtains like he’d done weeks prior.</p><p>With nothing but the sound of an occasional shuffling or snuffling and the bubbles outside their dorm windows that look straight into the lake, the quiet allowed him to hear his thoughts even louder. They filled the silence, overwhelming all else, akin to spilt ink on a blank piece of parchment. </p><p>He curled onto his side, relishing the comfort of the sheets wrapped around him, as he began to pick apart his anger. He knew that he wasn’t jealous of Lovegood or Potter...they might have had fame and they might have taken the right path with their lives, but he wasn’t jealous of them...no, it seemed he was jealous of Theo. </p><p>This thought was rather disturbing and he let out a small snort of disbelief. Why in hell would he be jealous of Theo? What did Theo have that he didn’t? Immediately the answers to his thoughts bubbled up inside his head. </p><p><em> Theo made the right choice...Theo has more friends...Theo doesn’t have a hideous Dark Mark...Theo wasn't a coward like him...</em>and then the utmost disconcerting one possible: </p><p> </p><p>Theo got to spend time with Potter.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. un·couth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Ronald Weasley~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ron, I need to speak with you later. It’s rather important, and I would like for you to actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>show up</span>
  </em>
  <span> to the library this time, preferably not too late,” Hermione spoke distractedly from across the table, not even bringing her eyes up from the meal she was picking at slowly, “I’ll meet you there a half hour after dinner, I have to finish up some research Theo and I are doing for our project.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He choked on his potatoes, sputtering in protest. “Oh, so he’s Theo now? Just because, because what? Out of spite? Since Harry and I had one little fight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hermione clenched her jaw and locked her eyes with his in such a forceful fashion that it actually shut the redhead up for the moment. “Ronald. I will meet you at the library a </span>
  <em>
    <span>half hour after dinner. </span>
  </em>
  <span>We will have a </span>
  <em>
    <span>civilized discussion, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and we will do so at the </span>
  <em>
    <span>set time.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” She repeated, her expression hard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ron scowled and shoved more potatoes into his mouth. Ah. Scalloped potatoes, the pearly gates that led into heaven- which was just another treasure trove of more scalloped potatoes. And if he was a very good boy, he reckoned he might get some other types of potatoes, as well. Maybe fries. Unfortunately, Hermione would never let him die, because who would she scold if he were gone? He glanced up to see her packing up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder in a hurried manner, glowering as one of her many randomly placed quills stabbed through the fabric of the bag and poked her side. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um…” Harry began awkwardly once Hermione had set off for the library, “I’ll..I’ll go too, if you’d like so we can explain it to her together…” It came out more as a question than an offer, as if he were asking for approval. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ron sent a quick nod in Harry’s direction, then swallowed the rest of his dinner, slipping a roll into his pocket for later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll see you in a bit, then. Don’t be late, or else Hermione will have both our heads.” </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Theodore Nott~</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Graannnnnnnger,” Theo sang as he sat down at the table next to Hermione, who was furiously scratching on some parchment with a quill that had obviously seen better days, “I sense a kerfuffle in your near future, care to elaborate on how you’re practically radiating this aura of ‘if you come too close, I’ll singe your eyebrows clean off’?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hermione’s scowl deepened, but she didn’t make a snide retort. “I’m confronting Ronald this evening about how much of a </span>
  <em>
    <span>foul git </span>
  </em>
  <span>he’s been for the last couple of weeks. I’m not quite sure exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>what </span>
  </em>
  <span>I want to happen with this in the end, but it really is getting old.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo grinned. “Confronting him, confronting him, I see. When you mentioned how </span>
  <em>
    <span>dear Ronald </span>
  </em>
  <span>was being a </span>
  <em>
    <span>git </span>
  </em>
  <span>I nearly fainted with surprise. Because that has never happened before, obviously.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She poked him with the tip of her quill and his grin only widened. It was quiet for a moment before they began their transfiguration research. Theo had been having quite a bit of issues with turning a hen into a dinner platter, and he needed to have it down before the N.E.W.T.s. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Every time he tried, he’d always ended up with a feathery plate, or a flat chicken, or a plate that </span>
  <em>
    <span>looked </span>
  </em>
  <span>normal, but clucked when you picked it up. It was such a simple spell...just one Theo couldn’t quite get a hold on. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They practiced for some time with Hermione’s scarf, turning it into a goblet, and back again. It was just around 15 minutes since dinner had officially ended, and he could tell Hermione was on edge for the coming confrontation. A blur of red hair sent her head up in a streak of bushy hair to meet eyes with Weasley.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I see you came a bit early,” she noted, looking slightly annoyed. Theo didn’t know if he should leave or say something or what. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Weasley completely ignored her and strolled up to Theo, who had begun packing his things. He grabbed Theo’s arm and spun him around so they were face to face. “What’s your plan with her, then? Get her to trust you and then hand her over to the coward death eaters still in hiding?” Rage pulsed through Theo’s veins, but he kept his cool demeanor. Hermione stood up from her seat, hand poking into her sleeve for her wand on autopilot, the anger clear on her face.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can assure you, Weasley, that I don’t plan on doing that, or anything similar whatsoever in my lifetime.” Theo hissed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t fool me. Think I’m stupid, do you? Think I’m dumb? Well at least I’ve got enough brains to see you’re only going to </span>
  <em>
    <span>use </span>
  </em>
  <span>her for whatever it is you people do with people like her.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“RON, SHUT THAT FAT BABBLING MOUTH OF YOURS! Merlin’s hairy arse, what the hell are you thinking? Where is your brain? Slip out of your ear again? For god’s sake, one day I hope you choke on all that shite you talk. Theo is my </span>
  <em>
    <span>friend. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I do hope you can put your </span>
  <em>
    <span>childish ways </span>
  </em>
  <span>aside and </span>
  <em>
    <span>accept </span>
  </em>
  <span>that he isn’t trying to trick me or hurt me or get to you or Harry!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are</span>
  <em>
    <span> YOU</span>
  </em>
  <span> THINKING? After the war, after EVERYTHING you’ve dealt with, because of people- people like him- you’re hanging out with this SLYTHERIN PUREBLOOD BULLSHIT SCUM!” Weasley spat. Just as Theo was about to turn away and grab his bag to give them their space and evade the elevating situation, he saw a blur of robes out of the corner of his eye and heard a loud slap. Hermione had slapped Weasley in the face. A mix of pride and worry bubbled up inside him at the incredulous look on Weasley’s face as he opened his mouth in protest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Weasley. You imbecile, she’s not asking for you to join hands with me and skip around singing nursery rhymes, is she? She’s merely asking for your </span>
  <em>
    <span>acceptance. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Is that </span>
  <em>
    <span>so damn hard </span>
  </em>
  <span>to give for a girl who’s probably saved </span>
  <em>
    <span>your </span>
  </em>
  <span>sorry arse too many times to count, a girl who’s been your </span>
  <em>
    <span>friend </span>
  </em>
  <span>for years?” He snapped before Weasley could speak, whirled around, and stalked away into the rows of shelving. He heard another explosion of yelling, and an angry Madam Pince shooing them both out of the library behind him as he stormed away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt bad leaving Hermione to fend for herself, but this wasn’t his fight to fight. So instead of jumping back into the heated argument, he slowed his pace and scanned the library for Luna. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Draco cursed as he slit his finger on the forty second page of </span>
  <em>
    <span>Death Omens: What To Do When You Know The Worst Is Coming. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The Grim on the cover of the book stared him down with cold eyes as he slapped the book closed and placed it onto the table beside him, dropping his heavy feeling head into his hands with fatigue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hadn’t gotten much sleep at all for a couple weeks now, and it was really catching up to him. His quill trembled in his hand, a twitch left over from the stress of the war, which had worsened at his lack of slumber. He’d been so wrapped up with his confusing emotions and guilt that wracked him. The memories of the war kept replaying in his head, the visions of screaming innocent people dancing around behind his eyelids as soon as they slid over his sight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were all scarred, no doubt...they’d all seen countless numbers of deaths, gruesome and quick alike. He shuddered, remembering Nagini swallowing Charity Burbage whole...her lifeless body slipping into the serpent, starting at her feet until not even the tips of her hair poked out. These were the memories that would haunt him for years to come. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No calming drought could tamp down his rapid fire brain, shooting this after that all around inside of his skull. His head hurt so much he could practically hear </span>
  <em>
    <span>yelling </span>
  </em>
  <span>bouncing about in his head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a short moment, he realized the yelling was actually happening. After quickly thanking whatever higher power that his sanity had been mostly kept, he peeked around the exit of the library to see what all the commotion was. He hadn’t thought it possible to be more surprised by anything at this point, but this sight managed to truly reach the top of the rankings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A very irked looking, extremely red in the face Weasel was having a </span>
  <em>
    <span>very heated discussion</span>
  </em>
  <span> with Granger in the corridor outside of the library. A few other people were gathered staring as well, all wondering why the two supposed lovebirds of the Gryffindor house were tearing each other apart with verbal abuse. He suddenly realized they were arguing about Theo as he recalled seeing him and Granger hanging around together of late. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>FINE! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Go off and make your OWN FRIENDS! Guess you won’t be needing ME anymore, now that you’ve got your </span>
  <em>
    <span>precious Slytherin.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Weasel was screaming at Granger, whose hair had come partially out of the messy bun she’d forced it in, flying wild around her face. He could see Potter pushing through the people surrounding the duo. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oi!!!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Ron! What the hell? </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the bloody hell?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Harry bellowed, stepping into the Circle of Debate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“OF COURSE YOU’RE ON HER SIDE!! You’re friends with that conniving bastard as well! You and Luna! I thought I could trust you!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t see how this affects you at ALL, Ron, I didn’t realize you were such an expert on how I should live my life!!! Shall I grab </span>
  <em>
    <span>parchment </span>
  </em>
  <span>to take </span>
  <em>
    <span>notes?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”Granger retorted, a raging fire burning in her eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How does this affect me? HOW DOES THIS BLOODY AFFECT ME? You are my two BEST FRIENDS and you’re asking how this affects me?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ron! For god’s sake! You’re acting like this is some big fat secret we’ve been keeping behind your back for years! It’s not a secret, it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>just not your business!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Theo is a perfectly good person! He hasn’t got a dark mark, he was never a follower of Voldemort...you’re just saying all those things because he’s friends with Malfoy!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco’s head shot up at his name, watching the argument closer. Weasel shut up for a moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you even tell her why you were being such a prat to me? The pettiness of your reasoning? Did you?” Harry lowered his voice, his eyes growing hard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Weasel ignored Harry’s question. “Knowing you, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Harry, </span>
  </em>
  <span>you’re probably hanging around with that </span>
  <em>
    <span>ferret </span>
  </em>
  <span>behind my back, that insufferable traitor dross! He’s probably off to </span>
  <em>
    <span>convert </span>
  </em>
  <span>you to his </span>
  <em>
    <span>ways </span>
  </em>
  <span>using your precious </span>
  <em>
    <span>Nott. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Look at all that shite Malfoy’s done! The choices he’s made! He was practically kissing Voldemort’s arse by the time we were in sixth year! If anyone’s still continuing those twisted ideas, it’s him! And I bet Nott’s just one of his henchmen!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well that was enough. Draco strode out of the crowd with as much pride as he could muster, straight up to the awkwardly tall redhead. “Weasley, a good place to put your </span>
  <em>
    <span>stupid </span>
  </em>
  <span>ideas is up your arse, I reckon. You know, life is rather nice, if I do say so myself. Why don’t you get one of your own?” He sneered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt a splitting pain bursting out in his face, and then the last thing he saw was the ceiling of the corridor.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry gaped in shock as he stared at the motionless blond on the floor at his feet. He looked up at Ron.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell, Ron?” Even Ron looked a bit surprised at himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It just happened.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It just happened? You don’t just punch to knock out with it just </span>
  <em>
    <span>happening</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Hermione knelt down to examine Malfoy’s nose, which was bleeding buckets. There was already a dark circle forming under his left eye. Ron said nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s broken. We’d better get him to Pomfrey’s.” She murmured as she looked at the wound. Harry, take him over to the Hospital Wing. I need a </span>
  <em>
    <span>word </span>
  </em>
  <span>with Ron in the meantime,” Her eyes were soft as she looked at him, then hardened again as she shifted her gaze to Ron. “Ronald, we’re taking this whole thing to the common room. Hurry up, this isn’t finished.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry watched as the crowd began to dissipate, Hermione marching ahead of Ron, who was trailing behind. Turning back to the heavily bleeding Malfoy in front of him, he levitated him quickly with his wand, and started off in the direction of the Hospital Wing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as he arrived, Madam Pomfrey circled around, a concerned look on her face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened, Harry? How long’s he been out?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ron socked him in the face. He hasn’t been awake for about ten minutes now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She clucked, shaking her head, and tended to the boy in front of her. Harry felt obligated to come back when Malfoy woke up to at least apologize...he knew that even though they’d been enemies most of their lives and that Malfoy had done some terrible things that he had been getting way too much flack from his classmates lately, and he didn’t have it easy with his family, either. So the least he could do was say sorry for Ron’s actions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Madam Pomfrey?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it, I’m busy right now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you reckon he’ll be awake tomorrow morning? I’d like to come back.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked very confused at this, but replied, “Of course he will, Harry. Come back in the morning, then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stood there awkwardly for a moment, then left for the common room hastily with a quick word of thanks. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry arrived back at the common room at the tail end of Hermione and Ron’s face off. It seemed as though Ron had explained his actions, because as soon as Harry stepped in, she questioned frustratedly, “Harry, why didn’t you tell me that Ron was going to duel Malfoy and that you’d fallen through an unknown imprisoning wall?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry Hermione…” he didn’t know what else to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just wish you two would tell me things,” she sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well when we </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>tell you things you get mad at us.” Hermione elbowed him lightly in the ribs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry shifted his gaze onto Ron, who was practically glaring a hole in the glass on the window. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened with the ferret, then, Harry?” Ron asked, his voice hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He should be awake soon. Just a broken nose and a black eye.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I should’ve punched him harder.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why? Because you were claiming things that weren’t true and he was defending himself?” Harry looked up, surprised to hear Hermione on the side of the boy who’d called her mudblood not many years before. Ron looked annoyed at her protecting him, but said nothing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m just wary, that’s all,” he fumed after a few minutes of silence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well take that wariness and channel it into something deserving. Like the amount of sugar and carbs you consume.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oi! I thought this was supposed to be a </span>
  <em>
    <span>civilized discussion!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. dom·i·nance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Draco dragged his eyes open with a groan to reveal the dark, arched ceiling of the Hospital Wing. That night’s fiasco came back in a flash and he reached up to smash his face with his hands in frustration, his fingertips spiking sharp pain into his nose as they brushed the healing wound. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It seemed to be around the middle of the night, the tall windows opening up to the crescent moon perched high in the ebony sky. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>“Knowing you, Harry, you’re probably hanging around with that ferret behind my back, that insufferable traitor dross! He’s probably off to convert you to his ways using your precious Nott. Look at all that shite Malfoy’s done! The choices he’s made! He was practically kissing Voldemort’s arse by the time we were in sixth year! If anyone’s still continuing those twisted ideas, it’s him! And I bet Nott’s just one of his henchmen!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The words stung more than he cared to admit. The fact that people actually thought that of him angered him the most. The part about Theo being his servant just made him laugh out of the absurdity. People really were stupid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> He thought back to their childhoods- they couldn’t have been older than six or seven- when their families would dine together at the Malfoy Manor. The children were always expected to behave themselves, and since they were so young and innocent then, they’d have “try not to smile” contests together that were actually quite difficult to win.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I bet all that hair your father calls his own is just a wig sewn up from horse tail clippings,” Theo whispered in his ear as Lucius swung his hair with dignity as he rose from the table. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Boys? Do you have something you wish to...share with your families?” Lucius glared.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“No, Father, sorry Father,” Draco apologized within the millisecond. He knew where he stood in terms of family hierarchy and didn’t dare mess with his father. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You’ve got to do something about him,” Theo had said once the boys were dismissed to sit in the yard. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Like what?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I dunno, maybe...maybe give him a good whooping!” Theo had exclaimed.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Are you out of your mind?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Theo looked him in the eye and deadpanned, “What mind?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The two laughed as they chased each other around the perfectly clipped rose bushes until their mothers came outside to scold them into sitting back down. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The happy memory faded back into darkness as he then recalled the aftermath of the chasing.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Narcissa! Have you been allowing our boy to act as undignified as a house elf while frolicking in plain sight about the garden?” His father snarled at his mother, the tone of his voice much too harsh for the situation. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I apologize Lucius. I’ll watch them more closely from now on.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I do hope so. Draco, come here this instant.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Draco shuffled nervously up to his father. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yes, Father?” He asked timidly. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You are never allowed to play so freely as that. A Malfoy demands respect, and that cannot be given if you are running about the yard in such a carefree manner.” Draco felt a slash of pain across his face. His father had struck him. “Do you understand me?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yes, Father, I understand and apologize for my inappropriate behavior.” He mumbled, rubbing the red blotch on his face. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Good. That is never to happen again, or else you’ll have more than just a red spot on your cheek.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He stared at the stars for a bit from his hospital bed as he cut off the memory, then, eventually, the grogginess took over and Draco gave in to the nightmares.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Draco? Draco, come downstairs to the dining room this instant. We have guests. Well, actually, put on something more...presentable.” Lucius stood commanding and foreboding, suddenly in the doorway of Draco’s room, a grim expression plastered on his face. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Yes, Father.” With one last cold look, his father was gone as fast as he had appeared. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Draco gathered his dress robes and slipped them on in a hurry, not wanting to anger his already irritable father. They were remarkably heavier than his previous ones, but he didn’t mind. He was quite used to dressing up for unexpected guests at this point. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>After checking his hair one last time in the mirror (it was quite dashing), Draco began descending the stairs to the dining room. With every step, an unexplainable feeling of dread worsened. His hand moved absentmindedly to the wand sleeve in his robes. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Almost there, Draco swallowed his anxiety and stepped inside, mustering up courage and pride, straightening his back. He did a double take when he saw many known death eaters sitting at his table...and at the head of it, a man with cold eyes like that of a serpent, his withered skin almost translucent in the light of the chandelier. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Oh shite. It’s Voldemort.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ah, young Mr. Malfoy. Kind of you to join us. Do take a seat. I’d hate to leave you just standing there.” The words turned his blood to ice, but he forced himself to sit primly next to his mother. She squeezed his hand under the table, the first contact they’d had in months. She, too, was frightened, though her face remained at utmost composure. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“My loyal followers,” Voldemort drawled in the most chilling voice Draco had ever heard, “I have heard the most...alarming news...there is a spy among us, working for the Order.” Whispers bubbled up from around the table.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Silence!” The room fell quiet once more. “Worry not, my dear, dear friends. We have already singled out this...filthy traitor.” Draco peeked up with fear he couldn’t explain. Voldemort rose from his seat at the head of the table, and slowly approached their end of it. Draco’s heart was beating faster and faster, and he feared it would rip itself out of his chest if he wasn’t careful. But again, he had no idea why. He wasn’t the traitor himself.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>His fear grew and grew as it became clear that the Dark Lord himself was making his way over to his family. He came to a stop directly in front of Draco. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Such a waste of power, young Malfoy,” Voldemort droned, “Nagini? Come help me show Mr. Malfoy what we do to people who don’t behave.” And then everyone around the room was cackling. Draco was growing smaller and smaller, his breath hitching, and everyone was pointing and laughing, the most demonic looks on their faces as his heart pumped faster and faster.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nagini slithered up, her scales shining in the light, her strong serpentine frame rippling as she moved. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With a blood curdling shriek and a flash of unhinged jaws, the world around him became darkness. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Draco shot up into a sitting position in bed, cold sweat glueing the sheets to his body. His breathing was so irregular, each breath painful as he calmed himself down. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It was just a dream...just another dream.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He flopped his head back down on the pillow, which was cold and damp from his perspirations. The sunlight filtering through the window calmed his nerves. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mr. Malfoy?” He jumped at the words, on edge from his nightmare. “Mr Malfoy, you are free to leave whenever you feel it necessary. But I believe there is a person who wishes to speak with you before you depart, so wait a moment while I grab them.” Madam Pomfrey turned and whispered something to someone outside the doors, he voice muffled. Draco strained his ears in confusion. Who would want to visit him? It wasn’t like he was on his deathbed. As he heard footsteps, he ran fingers through his hair in an attempt to right it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But then the person he least expected came through the doorway and his heart lodged itself in his throat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Potter, I see you’ve come to shoot me while I’m down.” He crossed his arms defensively. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can’t you get it through your thick skull that I’m not always here to pick a fight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes and exited to her office, mumbling something like </span>
  <em>
    <span>They never change, do they?</span>
  </em>
  <span> as she left. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He and Potter were left alone staring awkwardly at each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So...your nose…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It hurts.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter winced a little bit. “Sorry about that.” Draco was a bit taken aback by his apology. It seemed sincere enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wasn’t you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but it’s Ron, and he’s kind of like a child...so I’m kind of responsible for him, I guess?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco snorted. “That’s really rather sad.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was another uncomfortable silence. Draco heard the blood pumping in his ears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you want, Potter? To insult me more? To make me late to my classes?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just shut up for a moment,” Potter snapped, “No, I came to apologize for Ron’s words as well as his actions. I am sure the shite he said wasn’t true, and even though you’ve done some crappy things, you didn’t deserve it.” He finished much quieter than when he began, his eyes trained on a tiny speck of a spider running across the floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need your pity, Potter,” Draco spat, “Leave me alone.” Draco grabbed his scarf off the bed and stormed out, leaving Potter all alone in the Hospital Wing. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need your pity, Potter. Leave me alone.” Harry watched as the blond blur gathered his items and fled the Hospital Wing in what seemed to be a rage. Of course Malfoy had to make everything so difficult. All he was trying to do was apologize for what happened, not start an argument with the boy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as he left the Hospital Wing, the gooseflesh on his skin smoothed back over, his nerves calming. He scowled at the way the whole thing had gone and the way he’d acted when they talked. Not exactly as planned...but then again, when did anything go as planned with Malfoy? He shook his head to clear it (which really didn’t help), and began hurrying over to the Dining Hall to eat breakfast, the other students flowing past him in the corridor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A familiar voice jolted him to his senses. “Luna and I’ve figured something out about the funky death room, Harry, if you’d care to join us at our usual table in the library. You know, she and I, we make a pretty good team, don’t you think? You know, her with her Lunaness, and me with my, well, priceless mind and facial features,” Theo babbled next to Harry as the river of students pushed them along. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry looked over at him with amusement. “Theo, if I removed your ego, you’d just be a pile of skin and bones on the floor.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo grinned. “I’ll see you then, Harry. Have a fantastic time with that tentacula of yours in Herbology!” With a wink, Theo was gone as fast as he’d appeared. Harry shook his head and smiled, then plopped down gratefully at the Gryffindor table next to Hermione, happy to dig into his breakfast. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Holy shite. What the hell. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Draco speed walked down the corridor, not glancing back for fear the Potter was following. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What</span>
  </em>
  <span> was happening to him? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why </span>
  </em>
  <span>did he get so flustered back there in the hospital wing? It was nobody but his arch nemesis...a person he’d confronted too many times to count, now. He’d had a feeling like this once before, in sixth year, but he’d squashed it down into the inky depths of his soul, foolishly believing it was gone for good. This one was absolutely unsquashable, the most frightening opponent he’d ever faced: his own twisted emotions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He tugged at the wispy strands of his hair in self loathing, the mix of feelings confusing him and making him even more agitated. Completely skipping breakfast, he sprinted to the Slytherin dorms in a matter of seconds. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Drawing open the curtains to his bed in a frenzy, he flopped down on the mattress, and immediately began digging through his trunk. The object he was looking for was a muggle pocket knife, silver, and about the size of his thumb. He’d found it in muggle London, just sitting on a bench, and he’d cleaned it up and called it his own. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Popping open the blade, he rolled up his sleeve to reveal his forearm, constellations of tiny nicks and scars scattering the creamy skin. Gritting his teeth and curling his toes, he channeled all of his hatred and anger into the blade, poking the tip through his skin, a tiny bead of blood barely visible on the silver of the knife. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco dragged the blade further across his skin, sweat pouring out of every pore in his body, his nerves shrieking for an end. This was the only thing he could control. This gave him power over himself and his world. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You never deserved to come back to school. You never deserved to live through the war. Your family is so disappointed in you, and they have every right to be. You are a letdown. You are a failure. You don’t deserve anyone’s love. </span>
  </em>
  <span>His loathing blended with his disappointment in himself, his anger towards his family, his pit of guilt, his unwanted attractions. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He threw the blade back into his trunk, not even bothering to wipe off the crimson liquid lining it, and glanced down at the fresh cut, his tears welling up as strongly as the blood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” he whispered through his tears, “I’m sorry.” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. ten·e·bros·i·ty</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry this one took so long to post, I've got a lot on my plate lately. I hope you enjoy this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The days flew by in tizzy of research, work, and dead ends. He, Luna, and Theo were getting nearly nowhere with the strange hidden room. The “breakthrough” Luna and Theo claimed to have had turned out to be an entirely unrelated subject, completely unhelpful. They’d done loads of research, scanning almost every book in the library, even braving part of the restricted section, and were still coming up empty handed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not to mention that Hermione was adding ungodly amounts of stress to the mix. With the N.E.W.T.s at the end of the year, and it being nearly mid November, she had taken on the task of making copious amounts of study sheets for herself and her friends, pressuring them all to study with her for several strenuous hours every other day. Harry reckoned that just one stack of her notes could easily surpass Hagrid in height. Her fixation with notes was rather frightening. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>have to </span>
  </em>
  <span>meet me in the library later, I have a new packet of notes that I need to hand out to you and Ronald.” Hermione whooshed past him in the corridor, her hands fumbling with the quill she was attempting to shove in her overflowing bag.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Must I?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” He whined after her. Her glare was answer enough. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The corridor was quiet once she’d disappeared behind the corner and he was left with himself to think. To his utmost dismay, the first thing that popped into his head was Malfoy’s exceedingly dodgy behavior for the last week. Every time Harry passed him in a hallway, Malfoy would look away and tug at the hems of his sleeves until they were down to his fingertips. It was rather strange, and Harry was very curious as to why he was acting like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With impeccable timing, Malfoy passed by him at that exact moment. Harry glanced down at his arms, and, sure enough, Malfoy was reaching to pull down his sleeves even more. Something underneath the sleeve caught Harry’s eye as the sleeve came down. The edges of a few or more thick, lighter marks on his wrists were visible right before they were covered. They looked like scars and Harry was sure he hadn’t seen them on Malfoy’s arm at the hospital wing when he’d had his sleeves rolled up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, Harry’s curiosity took hold of his body and he began following Malfoy down the corridor, having no clue why in hell he was showing concern for the boy who had tormented him for years. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without even realizing it himself, Harry caught up to him and grabbed his arm, the one with the scars, causing Malfoy to visibly wince, and pull away as if he had been burned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell, Potter? Just grabbing random folks in the hallway now, are we?” Malfoy hissed between his teeth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s wrong with your arm?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Nothing is wrong with my arm! Why the hell do you care?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry stammered. “I...I was just curious! What are all those scars?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>THEY’RE NOTHING, YOU GODFORSAKEN, TOEJAM EATING WANKER!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Merlin’s hairy arse, calm down!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Leave. Me. Alone.” Malfoy snarled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!” Harry yelled, and grabbed his arm again, pulling up the sleeve in one swift motion. On Malfoy’s arm were about 25 thick cuts running up to his elbow, some of them healed, some of them still fresh looking. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Bloody hell. </span>
  </em>
  <span>It all made sense at that moment. Malfoy was cutting himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry held fast on the arm as Malfoy attempted to pull it roughly from his grip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“LET GO OF ME RIGHT THE HELL NOW!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry didn’t say anything for a moment, then looked straight into the gray, furious eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you cutting yourself?” He interrogated, the accusation filtering through his voice freely. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s none of your damn business!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell’s going on with you! You’re acting even weirder than usual!” Harry bellowed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To his extreme surprise, two fat tears rolled down Malfoy’s pale cheek, glistening in the light of the corridor. Before Harry knew what he was doing, he was dragging Malfoy down the hall to god knows where.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Theodore Nott~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The library was absolutely silent after dinner as he made his way through the bookshelves looking for Luna, about three hours until curfew. They were doing research with Harry that day, and they planned on meeting at their usual table. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he approached the table, he caught the eye of the wacky blond witch, dressed in her usual Luna-esque garb. Her caterpillar earrings wiggled in protest as she moved her head to turn towards him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Theo. Happen to see Harry on your way here? Come to think of it, he might be studying with Hermione.” Her voice floated softly through the dusty air. Theo sneezed unbecomingly in response. Luna laughed airily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you do that without covering your ears, the wrackspurts will sneak in when you’re not paying attention.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We wouldn’t want that, would we?” He humored her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, we absolutely wouldn’t. How would you help me research if your brain was all fuzzy? Plus, you need to have a clear head, because we’re breaking into the restricted section later, with or without Harry.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo started in surprise, raising an eyebrow. “When did we decide that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We didn’t. I did.” She responded innocently, tilting her silver eyes to look back down at the book she was reading intently. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo laughed. “Alrighty then, let’s get to work.” He pulled out his chair and flopped down into it. Luna shoved a book under his nose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This one. Read it.” The corners of Theo’s mouth turned up a bit at her bossiness, but he didn’t say anything, instead immersing himself in his book, the dust between each page assaulting his respiratory system. To Luna’s great satisfaction, he covered his ears whenever he sneezed, just to see her smile. But she didn’t need to know his reasoning. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Four hundred fifty-seven pages and 32 sneezes later, curfew was but a few minutes away. Harry had never come, which was a surprise, as he almost never missed their meetups. Madam Pince had come by just moments before, telling them to run off to their common rooms, so, naturally, they packed up their belongings and hid behind a bookshelf, waiting for Madam Pince to close up the library, hiding.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once all was dark and quiet, Theo cast a disillusionment charm, and they crept into the area where the restricted section was, wands at the ready. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Alohomora”, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Luna whispered, eyes darting around to make sure nobody heard. Getting into the restricted section was surprisingly easy, for a school full of troublemakers. Maybe they assumed nobody would bother breaking in to read books. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They had checked the restricted section once before, but had to flee when Filch’s ungodly cat began to paw at their invisible bodies, mewing to alert Filch of their presence. They hadn’t been back since, and this time took the precaution of shutting the door behind them so the dreaded demonic feline from the fiery depths of hell couldn’t find them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo lowered the disillusionment charm, and he and Luna skimmed the shelves in search of a title that might hint toward something in the realm of what they needed.  His eyes caught on a rather promising title near the back of the section, </span>
  <em>
    <span>The Dark, Bloody Magics of Aamon Himself. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The book was rather large in size, and was even thicker than it was wide. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Luna,” he whispered, “I found something.” He held out the book in front of him. She hurried over in a blur of silvery blond, and studied it in his hands. The outside of it was a deep burgundy, with the title imprinted in bold black letters, without an author. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wonderful, Theo! Absolutely wonderful! This thing is probably loaded with the stuff we need!” She breathed excitedly. Suddenly, she stood on tiptoe, and pecked him on the cheek, before grabbing his hand. His breath caught and he felt the blood rush to his face, but she didn’t give him time to respond.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’d better get going, come on, I heard Mrs. Norris mewing not that far away.” Luna warned, then dragged him off to escape Filch and his feline demon. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter, Three Hours Earlier~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry pulled Malfoy into a secret area behind a rather foreboding suit of armor. He let go of Malfoy’s arm, and watched as his enemy defeatedly slumped to the floor, rubbing the scars on his way down. Seeing someone like Malfoy with such dignity slump to the floor was rather depressing, and Harry half expected him to jump up with a loud “I’ve tricked you this time, Potter!” and hex him off to next week. But that never happened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry stood there awkwardly, not quite sure why he brought him to this spot. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you just going to stand there and watch my sorry arse die?” Malfoy looked up from the floor, glaring coldly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up, you giant drama queen.” Malfoy laughed when he heard that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m actually not quite sure why we’re here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I leave?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well what’s the point of me staying? I could just hex you if I wanted to, and escape by force.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry smirked. “You won’t.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What makes you so sure?” Harry was thrown by this question. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What </span>
  </em>
  <span>did</span>
  <em>
    <span> make him so sure?</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>“Just a feeling.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re gambling your life on a feeling?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Godric’s tits, just shut up about that,” Harry turned away for a moment to see if anyone was coming, “What’s wrong with you, anyways.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you really asking what’s wrong with me?” Malfoy said stiffly, voice laced with disbelief, from behind him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good lord, stop being so suspicious of everyone. Sometimes people are actually just being nice.” It was quiet for a bit, and Harry still didn’t turn around. When he heard a small sound, he whirled, and started at the sight of the boy curled with his knees up to his chest, face in his arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unsure of what to do, Harry slowly approached, and sat down across from him. When nothing happened and all he could hear was quiet sniffles, he poked Malfoy’s shin with the tip of his wand. He heard more grumbling, and after a moment, he realized that the grumbling was actually talking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...you giant git, think you’re all cool pretending you care...what till my father hears about this,” he sniffled. Harry laughed outright. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you going on about, you crazy arse?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When nothing but silence followed, he poked his shin again, harder this time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oi, Malfoy,” he barked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell do you want?” Malfoy sounded so little, like a young boy no older than four. It tugged on Harry’s heart a bit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want to start over with me and you.” Harry declared. Malfoy’s head shot up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean you want to start over?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry shrugged, though on the inside, he was freaking out a tad. “Just start over. We don’t have to be best friends, but we don’t have to have all these issues either.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell are you going on about?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh good lord, it’s not that hard,” Harry groaned, “Here, I’ll go first. I’m Harry Potter. Pleased to meet you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Draco Malfoy. Leave me the hell alone, you bloody tosser.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you ever stop being prickly like that?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Never.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly Harry sprang forward and grabbed Malfoy’s collar, pinning him to the wall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tell me,” he spoke harshly, “Why the hell are you so against me? Why did you choose to be what you are?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is it really so hard to figure out?” Malfoy seethed, “After everything you’ve done, after all of it, you’re asking me </span>
  <em>
    <span>that? </span>
  </em>
  <span>We’re different, Potter. Very different. Different sides of the war, different lives, different everything. You don’t know me at all. You think I like that? Being all dark, wallowing in the shadows with my family? You think I wanted this life, condemned to all the shite, having followed some crazy arse Dark Lord into some crazy arse crap? You think I liked that? You really </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>have a thick skull, don’t you!!! I did it for my mother! I did it for my family! I didn’t have a choice!” Malfoy was practically yelling at the end.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry let go of him abruptly and stepped a few steps back. He suddenly had a pit of shame in his gut, swirling around like a harpy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sor-” he began to stammer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I DON’T WANT YOUR PITY!” Malfoy screamed, and bolted around the corner. Never before had the phrase “out of sight, out of mind” been less true. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Draco really had to stop running away from Potter. It was rather unbecoming, and made him look so childish, but this time, he couldn’t help it. He’d cried in front of Potter. Merlin’s balls, this was a tragedy. He had to get out of there as fast as possible, and evade the pitying face that tormented him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He ran to the lake, even though dark was approaching quickly. He curled into himself at the foot of a tree, tucking his knees to his chest, and turned his gaze upwards towards the clouded sky, the moon barely shining through. Draco raked his nails through his hair, cursing at himself over and over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could think only of the boy he used to be who had held out his hand so hopefully in first year, wishing Potter would shake it. When that hand was turned down, everything changed. Harry Potter, from that point forward, was his sworn enemy. Every day, Draco wished he could have had the strength to join the right side of the war, to have the bravery to say screw you to his family and just leave. To just be who he was without a damper, without all the pressure he was handling. His father would kill him with his bare hands if he figured out that his son was thinking such things, but Draco couldn’t care less. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He ran a skinny finger along the edge of the lake, breaking a thin layer of ice, and the previously still water began rippling along the line he drew on the glassy surface. His hand lingered on the surface for a moment, letting the cold set in. A strand of kelp reached up out of the freezing water and wrapped around one of his fingers, not letting go. He didn’t pull away, and let it curl around him a bit more. The wind made him huddle closer around himself, his exposed skin icy cold, his hair messy and blowing around his head. He closed his eyes, the feeling of the kelp on his hand disturbingly comforting as it’s grip tightened. A tear slid down his cheek, the cold slowing its progress considerably. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“A Malfoy doesn’t cry. Look at you, so disappointing, curled up like a baby. You’re seven, Draco, and I expect more mature behavior from you. Get up this instant, before I beat you.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He could hear his father’s voice reverberating around his skull, as cold as the howling wind. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You’re wrong, father, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought to himself as the kelp inched further up his hand, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Malfoys cry all the time. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Suddenly, the kelp was around his wrist, creeping up his arm. It was beginning to get very unsettling, how the plant had such a firm hold. He realized that he should have pulled away ages ago, but much too late.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a sudden blur of sky and ice, he broke the surface of the lake with his face as he was tugged into the murky depths by his wrist. Right as the frigid water filled his ears, he heard someone far away screaming his name. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He began to panic as the pressure built in his head as he got deeper and deeper, the black expanse swirling and bubbling around him, the kelp now around not only his arm, but his torso and neck, pulling him down as his lungs began to burn. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Darkness tainted the edges of his vision, as if he would pass out at any second. The fear coursed through him as he fumbled for his wand, which was stuck in his wand holster, too tight to grab, with the kelp binding him. He slashed at the kelp with his free hand, nails scraping helplessly against the strong strands. When he broke one, another always replaced it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pain was unimaginable, and he tried to come to terms with the end, knowing that he was truly going to have to let go. Drowning was even more painful than survivors described it to be, the burning spreading from his lungs through the rest of his chest and torso, his vision darkening. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cold was absolutely unbearable, and his flailing limbs began to spasm as hypothermia set in. His movements slowed to a stop, the blood pumping slower and slower. Suddenly the bubbles around him disappeared and he saw and heard no more, the cold taking over, his brain descending into peaceful darkness. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. re·pent·ance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Again, I'm sorry the chapters are taking so long to go up, I apologize for the amount of time between each. I've got a lot going on for me. I hope you enjoy this one!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The frigid wind slashed at Harry’s face as he ran out of the school, about thirty meters behind Malfoy. Leaves swirled around his feet as he crouched to hide behind a tree trunk, and peeked around it to see Malfoy slumping down next to another tree a little ways away. The soft moonlight of the evening glistened off the platinum blond hair as his hands raked through it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could hear mumbling over the cold gushes, and winced as the sound of crying floated over. Malfoy crouched next to the lake, touching it with his finger. Harry saw kelp inching slowly up Malfoy’s arm, and suddenly realized with a jolt that the plant wasn’t just being friendly. He jumped out of his hiding spot, yelling Malfoy’s name, just as the other boy was pulled through the ice into the dark depths of the lake. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry pushed his legs as fast as they could go and dove through the hole Malfoy’s body had made in the ice, gasping as the numbing cold surrounded him. As soon as he got a hold of his senses, his limbs were immediately pushing water aside, struggling to keep Malfoy in his line of vision as his lungs began to burn, tempting him to swim for the surface. But he kept going down. The lake was pitch black in the night, and he squinted, his eyes burning from behind the foggy lenses of his glasses. Even in the dark, he could see the squirming outline of Malfoy in the depths below. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A flash of movement from his left startled him, and he whirled as quick as his slow limbs would allow. Another flicker of a shape blinked past. His heart rate immediately rose. Suddenly, in a blur of leafy green, the face of a horse became visible, charging towards him, strands of kelp trailing behind in a tail form. A kelpie. It reached him at a frightening speed, raising its head in a silent bellow of triumph, the water around them swirling and churning. Harry winced away in fear and attempted to escape, expecting the worst, but it circled around him, trapping him and nudging him over and over. After a couple moments, it seemed to have gotten impatient, and threw Harry over its back, swimming down into the lake after Malfoy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry clung onto the neck of the beast as the water parted for their dive. The feeling was remarkable, and the surprise of the kelpie’s actions shocked him as they plunged deeper. Their target soon came into view, and with a stab of panic, Harry realized that Malfoy had passed out, no doubt from the insane temperatures and lack of oxygen. Harry himself was feeling sluggish and his chest felt as though it was going to pop, but he refused to go to the surface until he had succeeded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was so beautifully ironic as the kelpie severed the thick strands of kelp around Malfoy in one graceful sweep, destroying something so similar to itself. Harry snatched up the unconscious blond, and the trip to the surface began, so much quicker than the trip down. The kelpie broke the ice valiantly, tossing the two boys onto the shore. Harry coughed and sputtered, spitting out bits of seaweed and a mouthful of water, immediately slapping his hands to Malfoy’s wrist, checking desperately for a pulse. There was one, but it was ever so weak, flickering in and out slowly. Not knowing what else to do, or any healing spells, Harry thought back to a time he’d seen a muggle booklet on CPR for drowning people, and immediately began pumping Draco’s chest. When that did nothing, he slapped his mouth to Draco’s in a desperate attempt to bring him back, puffing in rescue breaths between compressions. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jesus Christ, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought to himself, even his inner thoughts sounding panicked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a loud fit of wheezing, and a gushing of kelp filled salt water, Draco sat up and took a shuddering breath in, leaning against a boulder, not yet seeingHarry, who had jumped away in surprise when the coughing began, a few feet away. With a huff of relief, Harry flopped down next to the water. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A persistent poking at his hand stole his attention, and he glanced to his right. To his great surprise, the kelpie was nuzzling his hand like a puppy, making soft noises. Harry rubbed its head, and thanked it in a whisper. It snorted in response, and, with a beautiful, breathtaking arc, dove back into the dark depths of its home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Potter?” A scratchy voice brought his attention back to the shivering boy beside him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?” Harry’s voice caught. He didn’t know what else to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why the hell did you do it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why the hell wouldn’t I?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In a completely unplanned sequence of events, Malfoy’s lips were on his own, and, this time, neither of them was on the brink of death. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Draco had the sudden feel of a warm softness on his mouth, completely blocking out the cold around them. He leaned into it for a moment, reacting immediately how he wanted to for so long, and then his brain snapped back into reality.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco pushed his palms flat against Harry’s chest, eyes wild, and shoved as hard as he could, scrambling to his feet in a fit of panic. He tugged at his own hair as he stood, nails scraping his scalp with a flash of pain. Harry looked just as shocked as he did.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>god, </span>
  </em>
  <span>oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>bloody hell, </span>
  </em>
  <span>oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>shite, my god,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>He cursed as he turned and bolted, not looking at the wet, crazy haired boy on the shore behind him at all as he fled. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god. What have you done? What the </span>
  </em>
  <span>hell </span>
  <em>
    <span>have you done? </span>
  </em>
  <span>He pushed past several people in the corridor back in the castle, shoving them aside, ignoring their words of protest. He had to get as far away from Potter as possible. He absolutely had to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Draco, is everything ok?” He heard Pansy call from behind him. He flipped her off, and kept running, trying to get to the Slytherin boys dormitories before she caught up. He heard her yelling things like “what the hell” as he ran, but he paid no mind to it, sprinting down the stairs faster than he ever had.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh my god, Draco, oh my god, </span>
  </em>
  <span>his thoughts banged around his head like bludgers as he slammed the dormitory door shut behind him. Draco fell onto his bed, just sitting there rocking back and forth and back and forth, his hands clutching the short strands of his hair. Heavy waves of perspiration leaked from every pore in his body, soaking his robes despite the cold of the November air. He felt absolute revulsion towards himself, hating every inch, feeling every regret like a fresh blow to the skull. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His attraction towards Potter couldn’t be ignored or denied at this point. There was no going back. Draco felt another smack of rue as his brain’s projector replayed the seemingly impermissible memory, realizing that he himself was the one to lean in first. The loathing boiled up, the bubbles growing, popping, exploding, the hatred and regret toward his actions pumping through him like they were attached to his veins with an IV. He slammed his eyes shut, hoping to block out the world around him, but as soon as his lids slid over his vision, the unmistakable green of those treacherous eyes burned through the darkness. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He ran his hand over his Dark Mark, wincing at the faded but raised outline of the thing that defined him for so long. The mark that divided himself and Potter, the mark that shredded the world he knew and burned the torn remains, leaving only ashes behind. The mark that told him that he and Potter could </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>have anything at all. Because Draco felt with all his heart that he was a pathetic, godawful person in every single way. That he didn’t deserve someone like Potter, someone who was so </span>
  <em>
    <span>sickeningly good. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Someone who would do the </span>
  <em>
    <span>right </span>
  </em>
  <span>thing, not be a coward and follow the wrong path just to keep his own skin safe. Someone Draco never was and never could be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not to mention, Potter had that damned Weaslette. The fiery, red headed Weaslette, the one who had stolen his heart. Draco could tell from the start that she was only after Potter’s fame, that she just had a crush on the hot celebrity that had waltzed so willingly into her arms. Not to mention, she was 100% not a boy. And Draco was 100% a boy. Which was an issue, considering that up till then, Potter was known as straight. Even though Draco loathed himself for it, he wished so fiercely that it wasn’t true. He wished for a chance at least, even though he knew he could never have one. He wanted something where there was absolutely nothing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once again, Draco sought release in the silver blade that held his pain, the only thing in the world that truly understood what he needed. The tiny rivers of crimson ran down his forearm as the skin parted, revealing the same crappy person beneath. The same horrid flesh, the same horrid bone, the same horrid blood spilling from each slice. This time he didn’t cry, letting the wounds do all the weeping for him. The twisted, satisfying sense of control pumped through him. This was the only thing he could be the puppeteer, not the puppet.  A sudden bang and explosion of yelling caused him to drop the knife with a clatter on the floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>DRACO! WHAT THE HELL!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Blaise shrieked as he pushed the door aside in a swift blow. Draco’s eyes shot up, and he froze like a deer in headlights. Blaise reached out in an attempt to heal his wounds, but Draco pulled away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell are you doing?” Blaise kept whispering, but each time, Draco just receded more, trying to back out of the room. The blood left a little splatter trail on the floor as he stood, the crimson staining the carpet in a splotchy line. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Draco! Why? Why the hell?” Blaise begged for an answer, and Draco gave him none, instead sprinting out the door at the first chance he got, letting the blood fly freely as he ran.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He found a secluded corner, and banged his fist against the walls, the tears finally coming down in a massive, gushing waterfall on his emotion flushed cheeks. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry brushed his fingertips over his lips in confusion, still shocked at the event that had just taken place. He mindlessly dragged himself to his feet, ignoring his uncontrollable shivers, and stared blankly out onto the lake, the glassy black surface gleaming as if it were keeping a dark secret. He had no idea what to think, and had no idea what he was feeling at all. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a very unique feeling, knowing that he’d just kissed his arch nemesis who happened to be a boy, and it gave him a sort of crisis there on the shore. Harry’s body didn’t react, his feet firmly planted on the shore, but his brain was a hurricane of anxieties and confusion. Emotionally, he felt about as grounded as a lone leaf in a storm. No roots to hold him down, no ground to keep him steady. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a warm sort of feeling blooming inside him, one he didn’t register until about fifteen whole minutes after the ordeal. This feeling only confused Harry more. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Holy shite. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Everything was getting thrown around in front of him, everything was being put through a paper shredder. He thought he knew himself so well, but the warm feeling was proving him so terribly, terribly wrong. This person whom he hated so fiercely had just kissed him. And Harry hadn’t pulled away or yelled or tried to escape at all. He’d just let it happen. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh god. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Ginny. Reality hit him like a tidal wave, drowning him in its weight as the negative thoughts pounded at his skull. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>...You didn’t pull away...you’re straight, Harry! You’re straight...You’ve got Ginny...Malfoy’s a little shite…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry dragged his face with his hands in exasperation at his situation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, Harry, there you are! We’ve been searching all over the grounds for you!” Ginny’s warm arm slung over his shoulder playfully as she bopped him on the nose. Harry forced a smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...you found me. Brilliant,” he congratulated halfheartedly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She recoiled at how cold and wet he was from the lake as it soaked through her robes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell have you been up to? Oh- you’re all wet- why do you always have to go on these crazy water adventures during the coldest time of the year-” She worried at his soaked clothes and practically frozen hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ve got to get you inside, maybe to Madam Pomfrey, you’re freezing col-” Ginny was quickly interrupted by a waving of dismissive hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine, Ginny, really,” he assured her impatiently, “I’ll just go back to the Gryffindor tower to soak in some hot water and get some rest.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked a little riled up on how he wasn’t letting her help him, but held her tongue and walked with him all the way to Gryffindor Tower. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, you go heat up, no exceptions. I’ll be in the common room with Hermione, she’s running a high study fever and I’ll have to keep her at bay,” she ordered him sternly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright, alright, I’m going,” he called, already halfway up the stairs to the dorm. Harry peeled off the drenched layers of his robes and hopped into the bath water as soon as he could, sighing as it thawed his frozen bones. The thoughts came flooding back as soon as he began to relax, taunting him, screaming at him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a groan, Harry slid further into the water, the warmth calming his body but not his mind. After a good hour or so, he toweled himself off, slipped into his sleepwear, and flopped down onto his bed, drawing the curtains with his wand tiredly. He felt so put out and sluggish, and wanted nothing more than a good night’s rest. But his brain wouldn’t let him rest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he curled around his pillow, he remembered the moment Dumbledore had been hit with the killing curse, remembered how he had clutched the lifeless body, trying to will warmth into the cooling skin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Malfoy was the only one liable for everything terrible that the memory held. And Harry had just kissed him. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. un·dis·closed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Again, I apologize for how long it took to post this chapter. I was without a computer for six days, so I couldn't post another chapter sooner. This one is a shorter one than last week, but I hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Ginny Weasley~</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry had been a real weirdo that week, ever since Ginny had found him wet and frosty to the bone by the lake that one game changing night. Every day he got more and more distant from her, mumbling his responses to her persistent attempts to gain his attention. That very morning, Ginny had tried to wedge her way under his arm like she usually did at breakfast, but his only reaction was to shift the weight of it off her shoulder, slinging it back to his like dead weight. Usually, he’d put his arm over her on his own, and she would snuggle happily into his side. Harry’s behavior was becoming increasingly concerning, with even the idiotic and oblivious Ron noticing the changes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>According to her typically unobservant brother, Harry had been shutting himself away behind his bed curtains earlier and earlier each night, even going so far as to put up privacy charms around his bed. Evidently, in the rare instances that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>speak to Ron and Hermione, it was about </span>
  <em>
    <span>Malfoy </span>
  </em>
  <span>of all people, the conniving brat. Ginny was losing sleep over wondering why the hell he’d been concerned with the doings of that little shite, and every time she dove into the twisting and turning depths of her brain for answers, she would re-emerge empty handed. The wisps of scenarios were constantly growing at her fingertips, but something always seemed to disprove them. Ginny had even gone so far as to write down these scenarios on parchment. </span>
</p><p> </p><ul>
<li><em><span>Harry has another love interest who is fraternizing with Malfoy, which concerns him</span></em></li>
</ul><ul>
<li><span>Harry needs mental help after the shitty war</span></li>
</ul><ul>
<li><strike><span>Harry has become a closet alcoholic</span></strike></li>
</ul><ul>
<li><strike><span>Harry wants to break up </span></strike></li>
</ul><ul>
<li><span>Harry is jealous of... Malfoy’s hair? </span></li>
</ul><p> </p><p>
  <span>The third, fourth, and fifth of the options were less plausible, she realized as she reviewed her Project Harry checklist for the one thousandth time that day. Harry never smelled like alcohol, and didn't own any as far as she knew. And if he wanted to break up with her, she was sure that he wouldn't string her along. And the Malfoy's hair option? Well, Ginny was probably intoxicated when she wrote that one. With a start, she noticed Harry had just passed her in the corridor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry!” She called after him, trying to push through the other students around her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t even turn around at her call, leaving her behind him all by herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ginny wasn’t sure what the hell was going on with him, but she </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>she would get to the bottom of it- and would do whatever it would take to get there. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Luna Lovegood~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luna could see the wrackspurts floating in and out of Ginny’s ears at breakfast. They were roaming her head happily, taking their time to muddle her thoughts. It was rather unhealthy, but there was nothing Luna could do about it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t a mystery to anyone around their group at the table that something was amiss. The usual talkative Harry was silent, Ginny was in a quiet rage, and Hermione and Ron looked as though they wanted nothing to do with the situation. Luna knew that she herself </span>
  <em>
    <span>seemed </span>
  </em>
  <span>impartial, or maybe even oblivious to the growing conflict, but she knew the gist of the story Harry was so desperately trying to hide. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hadn’t told her a thing, and had no idea that she knew anything at all. Luna had merely connected dots that the others couldn’t. She prided herself quietly to have the uncanny ability to unfold events that hadn’t been unfolded for others, but, being a humble girl, didn’t boast. She kept everything to herself every time she figured out a new section of the puzzle. It wasn’t her story to tell, so she locked the information away in her mind and tossed out the key so it would never exit her mouth and never belong to the ears of another. That was, unless, Harry decided that the world needed to know the secret he’d been harboring for the last seven days. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no doubt that Draco Malfoy was attracted to Harry. The rumor mill said that Malfoy had been lying about being gay, but Luna knew that wasn’t true. It was a terrible deed, for them to say things like that about him without knowing anything at all. Then again, Luna knew she was being a bit hypocritical when she thought of her peers this way. After all, she herself was making large assumptions based solely on her own opinions and self gathered information. She just had a sort of gut feeling that everything she thought she knew was true. She couldn’t explain it to someone else if asked to...but whenever she got that feeling, it was always right. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She had a hunch that Harry had done </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>to save Malfoy at the lake that night, and was absolutely certain that they exchanged some sort of romantic gesture. From the antsy movements and sweatiness that Harry acquired around the blond, their previous actions were ever so clear. Both of them, to Luna, were obviously battling their own minds because of that one event, a game of tug of war, but instead of a rope being pulled about, it was a thick cord of nonexistent mental clarity. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Growing tired of the negative feeling radiating from her friends, Luna packed up her bag and skipped out of the great hall, travelling to her favorite spot on campus. The late fall wind was frigid that foggy Saturday as she descended the lush green hillside to the outline of the foreboding trees of the forbidden forest. She picked her way across the winding roots at her feet, following a pathway made in her memories, all senses alert of any signs of danger. Finally, the trees gave way to a brighter clearing, the grass cheerful in the light of her own hidden happy place. The ground below her sneakers was speckled with tiny aster flowers, their lively purple and pink hues bringing a sense of calm to her as she sat down against a tree on the edge of the clearing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was something so utterly pure about that place, something so inspirational and beautiful. The mere fact that a location as gorgeous as that sat amidst the dangers of the forbidden forest was just wonderful, and Luna couldn’t help but give in to the feeling that it was made just for her. Nobody else knew of this place. Nobody but Luna. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Savoring the feel of the soft blanket of grass beneath her, Luna pulled out the book that she and Theodore had found in the restricted section of the library. Running her hand over the cold cover, she felt the magic thrumming through her skin at the contact. The book had far too many wards and protection charms placed on it, some of which she had never seen before. All of them served to keep the book shut and away from the prying eyes of people, and they most definitely did their job right. For the past week, she and Theodore took turns at having a go at the heavy knots of spells, and so far they’d only made a slight dent in the magical barrier. Not wanting to deal with the hell book at the moment, she slid it back into her bag and pulled out several pieces of raw meat that the elves in the kitchen had been so kind as to lend her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Placing it onto the soft ground next to her, Luna put her hand bag into her bag and re-emerged with a small clay whistle. Shaped like a white dove with colorful paint lining it’s wings, the whistle fit snugly into her palm. Her mother had made it for her when she was a small girl, and Luna had kept it close to her ever since. Placing the mouth hole of the whistle to her lips, she blew in a series of long and short noises. She then lowered it, watching the rim of the forest around her, waiting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure enough, like every time she blew in that sequence, a set of furry legs scampered over the roots to her feet, eight to be exact. Her acromantula friend looked up at her with his large eyes in excitement as she placed the meat on the ground in front of her. He scurried over and devoured it happily. When he was finished, Luna held out her hand and he nuzzled her palm with one of his legs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Herbert,” she cooed at the young spider in front of her, “How are you today?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Herbert cuddled her hand closer at the sound of her voice. It was a very strange thing, being so close to an acromantula when so many feared them, but this one was special. When he was very little, not too long ago, he had wandered into Luna’s clearing. It had startled her a bit, but when he slunk back behind the tree in fear, she realized he was just as frightened as she was. After talking to him softly for a bit, he learned to trust her, and she would come there every so often and whistle to bring him his meat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A crunching sound in the forest directly on the other side of the clearing caused both Luna and Herbert to tense with a start. The outline of another person became visible through the trees. She grabbed her wand with her other hand and motioned for Herbert to stay behind her, slowly taking steps to reveal who it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Luna?” A slightly frightened voice called. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Theodore! What brings you here?” She smiled warmly at the tall boy emerging from the trees. Theodore blushed profusely and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I followed you,” he mumbled, then glanced nervously at the shaking Herbert behind her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Herbert, come say hello,” she whispered, putting her wand away and lowering her hand for him to nuzzle, “It’s only my friend, Theodore. He won’t hurt you, I promise.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Herbert crawled cautiously out from behind her legs, sticking close to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Luna, is that an acromantula?” Theodore asked softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course it is,” she responded, not taking her eyes off the furry little creature to her left.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s amazing,” he whispered kneeling down to his knees, “Hi little guy, don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Herbert slowly approached Theodore, his big brown eyes staring into the boy’s. Theodore held out his hand like Luna had, and after a pause, Herbert came over and nuzzled it a bit, darting back to the safety of Luna after the contact. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Isn’t he sweet? See, he likes you,” she smiled, dropping another piece of meat for Herbert to munch on. As he ate, she beckoned for Theodore to come sit next to her on the grass. They both watched Herbert for a moment in silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you find this place?” Theodore broke the silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I was feeling rather rebellious one day, and wandered into the forest to read. I just happened to stumble across this clearing, where I found Herbert,” she responded airily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded and turned his gaze onto the blond haired girl with mismatched stockings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a fascinating person, you know that, right? Not a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad </span>
  </em>
  <span>sort of fascinating, a brilliant sort of fascinating. And pretty amazing if you ask me,” he mumbled shyly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that so? Why, thank you, Theodore. You’re pretty amazing yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They sat in the quiet for a while longer. Again, Theodore broke the silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Has Harry said anything about the book?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I haven’t told him,” Luna played with a strand of her hair casually. Theodore turned to her in surprise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You haven’t? Why not? There’s something going on with him, isn’t there? And Draco’s been weirder than normal, lately, as well,” Theo thought aloud. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That seems to be the case.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know what it is, don’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She laughed and smiled a bit. “Why wouldn’t I?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He poked her in the arm. “Well, so Harry told you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No,” she replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then how do you know?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Theodore. Do you really need to ask that question?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He chuckled. “You’re not going to tell me what it is, are you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course not.”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The gray morning light filtered through the water on the other side of the dormitory window, fish flitting in and out of sight behind the glass. On the other side of the water, a much less lively Draco groaned as he pulled himself out of bed. It was late in the morning already, and he, without a doubt, knew that he had missed breakfast. It didn’t matter, though. The less he ate, the less hungry he became. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His ribs were visible under his sleepwear, poking out more and more as he ate less and less from the anxiety. If something even happened to make it down the hatch, it just came back up in a burning acidic puddle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco hadn’t slept much the last week, and the light skin under his eyes had turned an alarmingly dark shade with the sunken telltale sleep loss rings. Of the few classes he had attended that week, he’d seen Potter a total of four times. And every moment that they were near to each other, Draco could feel the anxiety bubbling in his gut and the sweat welling on his body. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t go on like this forever. He couldn’t keep running from Potter for the rest of his life. But he also couldn’t do anything about his feelings. Draco was truly in a very terrible situation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Though he hated himself for it, he couldn’t help but wonder if Potter felt the same way. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. ab·scond</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi, so this one's a little longer than the last one. Hope you enjoy it. I promise that I'll go into more depth with the "funky death room" in the next chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Harry felt like shite. Every day, he and Ginny became more distant, and he knew it was solely his fault. But he just didn’t feel the same way as before. He wanted to distance himself from her, for some reason. He could tell it was hurting her, and he wanted to change that, but he just felt so godawful that he didn’t want to make things worse for himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry,” He heard Ginny trying to get his attention. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry, you haven’t even touched your food.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not hungry,” he mumbled, poking at his creamed spinach with a fork. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh for Godric’s tits, Ginny, leave the poor bloke alone,” Ron groaned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ron, he’s starving himself! And does he look even remotely happy to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s practically brimming with joy, isn’t that right Harry?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, yeah, positively overflowing. Wouldn’t want your skin to get burnt, Ron, with all the pure joy I radiate,” Harry deadpanned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look at him, he’s as happy as a man could be, leaping with elation, like a ballerina! In one of those giant fluffy pink tutus! Floating amongst the flowers to the music! Or a joyous elf partaking in a jig,” Ron animated his words with exaggerated hand movements, “Just a glance at that ear to ear grin tells it all! See him grinning, Ginny? Look at that grin!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ginny stood from the table at such an alarming speed that Harry, for a moment, wondered if she were partially bionic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you bloody serious? Your friend is slowly deteriorating and you ignore it, let alone joke around about it? As for you, Harry- well you </span>
  <em>
    <span>better </span>
  </em>
  <span>tell me what’s going on with you soon, or we’re going to have some serious issues.” With a final huff and a scowl that could put the immortal in a coffin, Ginny thwapped the back of Ron’s head with a thick hardcover textbook, and stormed out of the great hall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bloody hell! She’s a human bludger!” Ron released an impressive chain of profanities as he rubbed his head, which was no doubt going to grow an inflamed lump where he was attacked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ron! Must you </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>talk like that?” Hermione scolded as she glanced around as if to make sure nobody heard, “And she just cares about Harry’s wellbeing!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She doesn’t have to hit Ron in the back of the head just because she cares about me!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, if you want the </span>
  <em>
    <span>book smackery shenanigans</span>
  </em>
  <span> to cease, then why don’t you </span>
  <em>
    <span>inform us </span>
  </em>
  <span>why you’ve been acting like one hundred year old, dried out pond mud! It hurts, you know? That you can’t tell your best friends, </span>
  <em>
    <span>not even your own </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>girlfriend, </em>
  </b>
  <span>about your issues! It eats me up inside and I know Ginny feels terrible as well. And, really, how </span>
  <em>
    <span>can </span>
  </em>
  <span>you two act as though nothing’s happening? As if your best friend isn’t turning into a dark eyed, dead inside bag of bones!” Hermione fumed, glaring down at Luna and Ron with blazing eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ron opened his mouth to protest when Luna suddenly slapped her issue of the Quibbler onto the table and shot her gaze up to Hermione. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When Harry wishes to tell us his issues, he’ll do it. That’s up to him and only him. Harry just needs some time to think about things. For now, it’s my job to make sure he’s as happy as he can possibly be. And right now he doesn’t feel happy. Sometimes people don’t feel happy and we have to let Harry work out some of his issues with himself before he works them out with other people,” Luna winked at Harry, who smiled for the first time in weeks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hermione narrowed her eyes and tightened her fist around her bag strap, turning her knuckles white. Without even saying anything, she turned swiftly, and exited as quickly as Ginny had just minutes before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry felt a small swell of gratitude towards the starry eyed daydreamer, glancing up to see her nose back in the Quibbler, who, without a doubt, knew every single detail of Harry’s issues. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks,” he mumbled awkwardly. Luna just smiled her whimsical smile, comforting him without words. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry! And Luna! Absolute pleasure seeing you both, I have made a </span>
  <em>
    <span>world changing revelation</span>
  </em>
  <span> on our </span>
  <em>
    <span>thingamajigger</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Theo rushed over in a blur of parchment and half eaten rolls. As soon as he plopped down at the table next to Luna, Ron made a point to huff and scoot over to finish his dinner with other Gryffindors. They all ignored his childish action. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna tucked her Quibbler issue into her bag, and stood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shall we head off to the library then? Or somewhere more secret?” Her eyes shone with excitement as she spoke. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry waved his hand in dismissal. “Go on without me, I’ll catch up later.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo hesitated for a moment, looking concerned, but Luna gently tugged his arm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright, Theodore, he just needs some time alone,” she assured him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The great hall was nearly cleared out now, with the end of dinner near, people leaving early to read or study for the upcoming NEWTs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry pulled himself slowly to his feet, sauntering in the vague direction of the lake. He flopped down onto the grass outside, at least 50 feet from the water to be safe. His eyes drank in the foggy sky, the wind stinging his cheeks and nose, his breath making little puffs in the air. He spread out there on the grass, feeling each blade of the green blanket between his fingertips as he stretched on his back. The guilt in his stomach rolled around too freely in that position, so he sat back up, with his arms around his knees, like an egg, the boulder in his gut stilling a bit. There. That was better. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The gusts tugged at his hair, the cold air creating condensation on the inside of the lenses of his glasses. Harry pulled them off in annoyance, rubbing them clean with the hem of his robe. The fuzzy outline of the world calmed him in a way, and he left the glasses off, tucking them into his pocket. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally being alone with his thoughts was a crap ton worse than he expected, each one berating him. They bounced around his brain like loose bullets. The pit in Harry’s stomach grew by several inches. He felt like shite in every way about keeping secrets from all the people he loved. He hated how elusive he was being, he hated how he wasn’t brave enough to let them in the door. But that door was locked, and the key was long gone. It was nice to know that Luna knew, and also slightly unsettling at the same time. Harry wished with every fiber of his being that he could at least get up, walk to the library, and talk to her about it, but for some reason he couldn’t. He just stayed rooted to the ground, under the mist and stars, the moonlight tinting the everything in his fuzzy line of vision a soft silver.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even in this supposedly soothing environment, the questions and thoughts plagued him further. He thought of Ginny, the girl who had stolen his heart. Harry cursed himself for questioning, but he wondered if he really did love her. Or if he’d just thought of her like a sister for so many years that he mistook his own feelings for something more than siblinghood. It scared him that he didn’t even know himself. It scared him to leave the comfort zone of an idea that it would be him and Ginny forever. That they would be a couple in every version of his future. But now more pathways were unveiling in front of him, and he was questioning everything he said or did. Harry questioned every time he held her close, questioned all those moments where he said “I love you”, questioned every promise he’d ever made. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Just me and you forever. </span>
  </em>
  <span>His own words taunted him, dangling the memories in front of his face like a cat toy. Like a faux mouse on a string that he pawed at and pawed at, trying to eradicate it, but failing every time. But when he closed his eyes and remembered when he kissed her, he imagined only Malfoy’s silver eyes of his enemy instead of Ginny’s. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>What had that kiss meant for him? What did he </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>feel? Harry tripped over every query in his mind. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his brain, but it only dizzied his sight more. Finally sick of the blurriness, he pushed his glasses back onto his nose, blinking as everything came back into focus. He was about to lie down again when he got the telltale shiver down his spine of being watched. A stick crunched, less than three feet behind him from the sound of it. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he hopped to his feet and whirled around, wand in hand-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And was met with those same glistening silver eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Theodore Nott~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Theo hurried along the corridor, pausing every so often for the small blond in tow to catch up to his long legged strides. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why do you have to be so quick? Here, follow me. The library isn’t a suitable place, I’m guessing?” Luna puffed out from behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded quickly and slowed down a bit, letting her take the lead. She immediately exited the hallway through an archway, her delicate feet stepping onto the rolling hills of green folded in layers of brume and darkness. They walked for a bit through the grass, and Theo watched how the wind puffed Luna’s beautiful hair into a billowing cloud. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a minute or two, he realized she was headed straight towards the Whomping Willow, whose arms were already swaying, aggravated slightly by the gusts. Theo grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop, alarmed by how close in proximity they were to the swinging branches. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Luna,” he cautioned, “That’s the Whomping Willow!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m glad you can identify key Hogwarts landmarks after attending this school for eight years, Theodore,” Luna responded, “Now do mind your head, you’re going to be needing it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, she tugged him by the hand straight towards the increasingly violent tree. Luna turned around for a split second to smile at him, then pulled him right into the pathway of the lethal branches, still clutching his hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was absolutely terrifying. There were thuds all around from the branches missing their hits, smacking the ground instead. She pulled Theo along with surprising agility, turning this way and that to avoid each smack. He sure as hell wasn’t going to let go of her hand at this point, with the twigs and leaves smacking him in the face with every step they took. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They reached the base of the trunk, and just as they slowed to a stop, a giant, angry branch swung right towards them. Fear struck him, and he froze like a deer in headlights. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“LUNA-” As soon as he shrieked her name, Luna smacked a knot near the base of the Whomping Willow, and the tree immediately froze. Nearly inches from his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was fun, wasn’t it, Theodore?” She brushed off her clothes with her hand, not even bothering to try to free the other hand, which was clamped tightly in Theo’s unrelenting, sweaty palm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Make sure to bop it again on the way down,” She told him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“On the way down?” He stuttered, just as she dragged him down an opening at the base of the roots. Theo just barely managed to slap the button as he tumbled down the hole with Luna, yelping as roots poked him in places where </span>
  <em>
    <span>roots should never poke. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>They landed in a heap on the floor of an underground, cramped tunnel, the dirty walls scattered with root tips poking through like fat worms. He stood, and pulled Luna up after him, taking in his surroundings, still grasping her hand firmly. It was rather nice, actually, holding Luna’s hand. He didn’t want to let go unless he absolutely had to.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your first time here, I presume? Well, follow me, let’s go find a room up there so you can tell me about that revelation.” </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Draco sat on the edge of his bed, the sleeve of his button down rolled up to his elbow. A fresh wound lay bleeding heavily on his forearm, the blood dripping down in little rivulets. He stared at it for a moment, thinking about what he had just done.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whenever the pain filled his mind, whenever the skin was broken, Draco got to go somewhere else. He got to escape. It was only him and his canvas, the canvas of his skin. And the paintbrush, of course. His blade. The pain would fill him up and take him places, places where he wasn’t a Malfoy, places where he could fancy whoever he wanted without the weight of the world on his shoulders. The pain was his way out, his secret garden. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could completely detach from everything but the feel of the blade cutting his skin. He could let go, let everything just fly away. With every drop of blood, he could travel farther and farther away from the surface. But it was only temporary. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as the alternate reality broke, he was back sitting on the bed, sitting in himself, sitting in a Slytherin dorm room with a knife in his hand. He was once again Draco Malfoy, the boy who made every mistake, the boy who set himself up for peril from day one. And as soon as he was pulled back into the world he hated, he would look at the blood, look at each slice. Look at the open skin. And think </span>
  <em>
    <span>what the hell have I done to myself? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Every day was the same. Or maybe every day was worse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Vulnera Sanentur,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he whispered. The wound knitted itself closed, but the scar would always stay. A token of his misdeeds to himself, scars were always there. They followed forever, reminding him of every wrong move he ever made.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco rolled the sleeve back down and cleaned the knife, putting it back into his trunk. Theo suddenly hurried into the dorm room carrying several stacks of parchment, a giant book, and a few quills. Draco was grateful he didn’t show up a second earlier, or else he would’ve seen the cuts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Coming to dinner? Lets go, you need to eat something, ok? You look like hell.” Theo motioned with his head. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Let’s go. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Draco, for once, didn’t put up a fight, and walked off to the great hall with Theo frantically attempting to hold his parchment together behind him. Once they sat down at the Slytherin table, he ignored all his friends, tuning them out. Turn on the brain noise, turn off the people noise. It was that easy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He poked at his creamed spinach, the nasty stuff making little squelching noises as his fork pushed it around. It was a revolting sound. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco looked across the room at the Gryffindor table, attempting to be discreet as he watched the Golden Trio, Loony, and Weaslette argue. Potter looked absolutely deflated. Like a cream puff that had been stomped on by an elephant. A few seconds after, Weaslette stormed off, Hermione not long after her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh no</span>
  </em>
  <span>, drama with the heros. Potter’s obvious dysphoria was no doubt caused by the forbidden event that had played out not too long ago. It was really doing a number on him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He started when Theo rose from the table, taking all his supplies with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna go do something, see you later I guess,” Theo said hurriedly, then scampered off to the Gryffindor table. As soon as Theo got there, Weasel left. How immature. Then, Loony </span>
  <em>
    <span>grabbed Theo’s arm, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and they walked off together! Well, that was rather strange, indeed.  Draco knew he couldn’t get mad about it, though, as his little attraction was much, much worse in comparison. Speaking of which- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter was now all alone at his group’s section of the table. He looked terrible, even from across the hall. His eyes were visibly baggier, his already skinny frame remarkably slimmer. Draco felt a pang of concern for the boy, followed by a marching band of self hatred. Yay. Life really </span>
  <em>
    <span>was, </span>
  </em>
  <span>great, wasn’t it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter sat there for a moment, then he, too, got up from the table, heading out of the hall. For some reason, which he scolded himself for, Draco’s body was suddenly up and moving in that same direction as well, silently following Potter like a cat on a hunt. His footsteps were silent on the grass, muffled by the wind, as he stepped out of the hallway like Potter had. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, Potter stopped and lowered himself onto the ground, lying flat like a starfish. Draco darted behind a tree and watched him for several long minutes as he shifted position from on his back to curled with his knees to his chest. He stared as Potter put his glasses in his pocket and stared blindly out at the silver world. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked so perfect there in the grass, the lake within view below. He looked beautiful. With a jolt, Draco felt a sudden tug at his heart, and then he was on his feet without even thinking about it. Approaching. Closer and closer and closer. A few feet away...and then- </span>
  <em>
    <span>SNAP. </span>
  </em>
  <span>A branch: his downfall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter rose to his feet and spun around in an instant, with his wand in his hand. Draco froze on the spot, the adrenaline pumping through him, cementing his feet to the ground. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then he was staring into Potter’s tormenting green eyes. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. un·chain</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b> <em>~Perspective of Luna Lovegood~</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>Luna towed her companion along, stepping daintily over the roots and bugs and such that littered the ground beneath her sneaker clad feet. She inhaled the cool scent of earth as they reached the stairs to the Shrieking Shack, the steps as dusty and dank as usual. </p><p>“Come on, Theodore, just up these stairs,” She turned and smiled at Theodore, who was looking a bit worse for wear and frightened. He nodded quietly, and followed her up each step, the silence of their surroundings broken by the peskily squeaky stairs. The hallway was dim in the night, even more so than usual.</p><p>“Lumos.” The hallway lit up in a soft bluish glow, the dust whirling in little spirals around their feet with each step. Luna pressed her palm against a slightly ajar door, pushing it open with a loud screech of old hinges. The room behind it looked as though an elephant had stomped through it. </p><p>On the left side of the room was a crumpled four poster bed, it’s once majestic wood posts left in crushed splinters beneath the cloth, a thick layer of dust blanketing the surface. The windows were curtained and broken, the boards over them old and rotting. Through a crack in the curtains, a sliver of moonlight lit up a damaged looking piano, each ivory key bright in the silver glow. A chair or sofa of sorts lay torn and tattered on the right side of the room, it’s once undoubtedly lavish fabric leaking bits of cushion feathers and foam, dirtied by the years. It smelled of the past, like a capsule in time. Like old fabric and wood after years without daylight. </p><p>Luna inhaled deeply, then immediately regretted it as her giant sneeze reverberated around the room. She turned to see Theodore silently taking in his surroundings, and she could practically hear the gears turning in his head. </p><p>“Luna..are we in the Shrieking Shack?”</p><p>“Yup!”</p><p>“It’s much less...shrieky than I assumed. No shrieking at all, really. I remember how scared me and my friends used to be of this place. Draco would’ve ran to hell and back just to keep his arse out of here.” </p><p>“The name’s helpful though, because now you can tell me all about the book without having to obliviate anyone!” </p><p>“Alrighty then. So I was staring at the cover of the book this morning and I was <em> really looking at it, </em> you know, it was <em> withering under my gaze- </em> Fine! I’ll get to the point if you stop giving me that look! <em> Anyways, </em> I was looking at it, something felt rather peculiar, since it didn’t have an author or anything, or really much on the back cover of the book or the spine. But I could <em> feel it </em> ! Something was off about it! So I was really, <em> really, </em> looking at it, and that’s when I realized that in this really tiny fine print, on the front page of the book was <em> ‘Ttidimtie meu tu cutairs gilta’ </em> . But the thing is, each one of those words was hidden inside a letter of the title, and the writing was <em> so smallllllllll </em> it burned my eyeballs to look at. Anyways, anyways- I keep getting distracted- I was looking at those words cause they looked super familiar, you know?”</p><p>He looked as though he were checking if he had Luna’s full attention. She nodded her head for him to continue. </p><p>“So I wrote them down- in much larger writing- on a piece of parchment and looked at them some more. It sounded like Latin when I read it to myself, but it wasn’t any Latin words I knew. So I found a book on Latin in the library-isn’t it so cool how the library has everything- so I was looking and reading and such and I realized they weren’t words at all. Well, they were words, just a bit mixed up. They were scrambled up words, like those games muggles play. Just in a much smaller font and harder to decipher. So after about two hours or so, I finally came up with a sentence that made sense and used all the letters from each of the words. ‘<em> Dimittite eum ut sciatur ligat’. </em> Which directly translates into <em> ‘Release the binds and let them be known’. </em>Doesn’t that sound super creepy? But totally appropriate for the kind of shite this book deals with. So I think if we say that and do some sort of wand motion the book might...open? I’m realizing it’s not a lot to go off of, sorr-”</p><p>“Theodore! That’s wonderful! I can’t believe I didn’t notice it sooner!” Luna hopped up to give him a quick hug, then bounced back to her previous position, feeling her face reddening.</p><p>“So, what’s the wand motion?” She asked quickly.</p><p>“Ahhhhhhhhh yes- that’s what we need to figure out. So there’s these little suspicious lines on the bottom of the spine, and they look sorta like a design-” Theodore hadn’t even finished speaking before Luna had snatched the book and began waving her wand about in the supposed pattern, chanting “<em> Dimittite eum ut sciatur ligat” </em>all the while. </p><p>“Luna, I really don’t think that’s a good idea-”</p><p>But Theodore never finished his sentence. Suddenly the sound of Luna’s chanting was covered by high pitched screaming, and their sight was blocked by a vast cloud of billowing ebony swirls, with what looked like faces stretching out of it. They sunk to the ground, hands flying desperately to their ears to block out the sound.</p><p>
  <em> LUNAAAAAAAA LOVEGOOD  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> LUUUUUUNA LOVEGOODDDDDDD </em>
</p><p>
  <em> YOU HAVE SET US FREE </em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~</em> </b>
</p><p>Harry froze in place, the shock and adrenaline rooting him to the spot, not even offering him the choice of movement. <em> What the </em> <b> <em>bloody…</em> </b> <em> Should I run? Should I hex him? Should I kick him in the nuts? Why is he here? </em></p><p>Malfoy looked just as tense, his eyes unblinking as they stared at each other, only inches apart. </p><p>“Good evening, Potter.” </p><p>Harry stuttered, caught off guard by his tone. “What the fuck, Malfoy?”</p><p>“You don’t seem too happy to see me, then, but that is to be expected-”</p><p>“I feel like this is the appropriate time to file a report of stalkery-”</p><p>“My behavior was most certainly not to be considered stalking!” </p><p>“Hiding in the bushes for twenty minutes whilst <em> watching someone </em> is typically <em> stalking, </em>don’t you think?”</p><p>“If I wasn’t wearing a trenchcoat, it doesn’t count.” </p><p>“Really, Malfoy. What the hell are you doing peeping around the bushes, looking all shifty in the fog, <em> watching me?”  </em></p><p>Malfoy looked as though he was at a loss of words for a moment, then collected himself. </p><p>“You looked like a real mess-” He started defensively, wand in hand.</p><p>“The last person I want help from is you! Do you have any idea what the hell you did? Tormented me for YEARS, then you just- you just do <em> that? You kissed me! YEAH, I WONDER WHY POTTER LOOKS LIKE A REAL MESS! </em>” Harry shouted over the wind, his voice climbing. He huffed his breaths in and out, Malfoy’s eyes on him still. Harry fought to control his emotions, which were bubbling up in massive waves, slamming him over and over. </p><p>There was a loud splitting sound from below, and in a blur of brown and green, the ground between them tore, roots spiralling up through the crevice in uncontrollable spires, immediately wrapping around Malfoy’s wrists and ankles, pulling him down with immeasurable force. </p><p>“POTTER! STOP IT-” </p><p>“What do you mean STOP IT???”</p><p>“<b> <em>YOU’rE</em> </b> cAuSiNg tHis, yOu bluNDerIng-”</p><p>Harry scrambled to grab on to the roots and Malfoy, trying desperately to pull them off the flailing boy as he was dragged down and down into the ground. </p><p>“RELASHIO!” The vines held tight on Malfoy’s frame, the descent into the earth quickening, Harry’s spells not making a dent in the fight.</p><p>“DIFFINDO! <em> DIFFINDO </em>!” Harry bellowed, waving his wand this way and that, attempting to slice the vines. Triumph gushed through him as the vines began to retreat, heavily damaged. But then the cuts on the vines faded away, reappearing on his own limbs, the blood gushing from the cuts of his wand in his skin. </p><p>“AggGGGGAAA!” He jumped back in surprise, trying to staunch the heavy flow of blood from the gashes. The crimson shone bright against the pallor of his skin in the silver moonlight and the pain was blinding. </p><p>
  <em> “Oh my god-” </em>
</p><p>“POTTER-” But regardless, this was his own doing. Ignoring the blood and pain, Harry dove into the crevice just as Malfoy’s fingertips disappeared. </p><p>“HARRY!” </p><p>The earth sealed over the cracks, the grass covered the bare earth once again. Then everything was peaceful, with only the wind whispering softly, the conflict beneath raging on in a cage of roots and soil.</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>~Perspective of Ginny Weasley~ </em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>Ginny sat staring at the crackling fireplace before her, the heat warming her cold limbs. The night was still young, but the chill still crept through the stone walls of the castle. She let out a long awaited exasperated sigh, sweeping a curtain of red hair out of her face. </p><p>“Ginny?” Hermione’s quiet voice pulled her eyes away from the popping fire before her. </p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Do you think we’re in the wrong? For getting mad like at Harry like that?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Ginny rubbed her eyes tiredly, “Yeah, I do. I should be supporting him when he needs help, not pushing him further away.”</p><p>“I don’t think you’re pushing him away.”</p><p>“Well, I mean I’m not really giving him a chance to tell me. I’ve been too busy being mad.”</p><p>“If you really think that, maybe you should go find him. It’s been a little while since dinner and he still hasn’t shown up.”</p><p>“I’m going right now.” Ginny pulled herself off the cushy sofa of the Gryffindor common room, tugging on an extra sweater to go beneath her robes to keep out the chill. She shoved a beanie over her head, and slipped her stocking clad feet back into her ballet flats. </p><p>“Make sure he’s alright, Ginny, ok? And tell me what happens. You’d better or else I’ll come hunt you down in the dead of night and force it out of your throat.” </p><p>“Alright, alright,” Ginny waved her hand dismissively and climbed out of the portrait hole, stepping foot into the cold, abandoned corridor. Her steps echoed around the stone walls, the soles of her shoes clicking against the floor. </p><p><em> If I were Harry, where would I go? </em> She paused to look in every nook and cranny of the halls, searching whatever she came across. She passed by a tall window, the moonlight making the Hogwarts grounds glow silver far below. Ginny paused to watch how pretty the trees and plants were in the light, how the grass shimmered as it moved with the wind. She was watching the scenery for a couple moments, when suddenly a bit of movement caught her eye. Moonlight on messy black hair- <em> HARRY? What the hell is he doing out this late? </em>She was about to run down and meet him when a lanky blond figure stalked up behind him, getting closer and closer- </p><p>“<em> HARRY!” </em>Ginny shrieked, sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her down the spiralling stairs, desperate to descend as quickly as possible to get to him, to save him. She could feel her breath moving swiftly in and out of her mouth, and couldn’t help but praise all the hours of quidditch practice she had. It kept her in shape for times like these. </p><p>Ginny jumped from the hallway in a sprint as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, climbing the hills of green in the night just as quickly. <em> I’ve gotta get to Harry. I’ve gotta get to Harry. </em>Suddenly the ground shook beneath her feet, throwing her off balance. She landed on her bottom with a thud, gripping onto a root to steady herself. </p><p><em> Oh my god oh my god- </em>She got back up onto her feet before the shaking was over, desperate to make it to Harry. </p><p>"HARRY!” </p><p>But just as she cleared the hills to save him, the ground closed up, and he was gone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. bones</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is much, much shorter than usual, and I apologize, but but the holiday season is always so busy for me. I've been spending my time making a crap ton of hats and bobbles like that. So I promise that I'll have another one up before xmas for sure. I hope you people are doing alright and that you like this chapter! </p><p>If you have any questions about the storyline or anything, just comment, and I'll respond asap! Happy Holidays!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Theodore Nott~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Theo clapped his hands over his ears in an attempt to block out the screams surrounding them, sinking to his knees. The black cloud above writhed and twisted in horrifying contortions, the unrecognizable faces pressing up against the edges of it as if they were attempting to escape a prison of plastic wrap. A terrible feeling of coldness filled Theo up from the inside out, starting in his gut and spreading to the tips of his fingers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>LUNAAAA LOVEGOOODD</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>LUUUUUUUNA LOVEEEEEEEGOOD </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>YOUUUUUUU HAVE SET USSSS FREEEEEE</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the faces screamed Luna’s name, he swung his arms around rapidly in an attempt to find her. The cloud shrieked and swarmed as he moved around, pushing him downward. Fear coursed through his veins, filling him up to the brim with a sense so primitively controlling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“LUNA? LUNA ARE YOU OK? LUNA?” His own bellows just mixed in with the cries of the cloud, and his voice was lost. Theo raised his wand high above him, and willed himself fiercely back to that day in the forbidden forest with Luna, trying desperately to summon the memory clearly in his mind. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Luna with Herbert.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sitting on the grass. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Watching the branch broken sky. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The tiny purple asters woven into her silvery hair. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The sunlight glazing him in warmth. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“EXPECTO PATRONUM!” Theo roared the spell with all the might he had. To his great satisfaction, a majestic sea lion wooshed from the tip of his wand, whirling about above their heads in all its glory, barking without sound at the terrifying cloud above them. He grinned as it forced the still screaming cloud up in a spiral, pushing it up against the ceiling. With a sudden burst of unintelligible noises and a flash of black, the cloud above them exploded and disappeared in a veil of foreboding dark dust, his patronus disappearing immediately after. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo struggled to his feet, and stumbled over to Luna in a panic, who was sprawled on the floor face down. He turned her over by her shoulders and shook them shakily in distress, the fear returning full blast when he saw her eyes were closed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Luna? Luna come on- please! Luna, please-” He fumbled for her wrist and pressed two fingers on it. With a wave of relief, he felt the steady beat of her pulse thrum against his fingertips. Even though it was weak, it was still there, and just that reassurance brought his own heart rate down a tiny bit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rennervate,” he whispered softly, holding his breath as he waited for the spell to take action. With a blur of blond, Luna sat up with extreme vigor, as though she hadn’t been passed out on the floor just moments before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Theodore!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh for god's sake, Luna, you freaked me out,” he mumbled as he pulled her into a tight hug, “Don’t just go around passing out like that, it’s scAREs me!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about me, Theodore- really, I’m fine, I promise,”  Her voice was muffled against his shoulder as she patted him comfortingly on the back, and he jumped a few feet backwards, embarrassed when he realized that he was probably suffocating her a little bit. Theo could feel himself turning into an overripe strawberry as his face flushed, so he faked a sneeze as an excuse to hide it with his arm. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, the dust settling around them in tiny dunes. It clung to his robes and skin, tinting everything matte black, and, thankfully, hiding his alarmingly beet-esque skin tone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where’s the book? Do you think it worked?” Luna was the one that broke the silence as she kicked at the dunes with her previously red Converse which had turned a dark burgundy with the grime. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um-” Theo swept the area with his gaze, and rushed over to the corner of the room where the corner of the book was spotted poking out from behind the couch, looking a little worse for wear. Theo picked it up with extreme caution, preferring not to lose his fingers or other important body parts from being too hasty. It felt a bit lighter in his hands when he held it, which was strange. Luna ran up next to him, running her hand over the cover. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It feels different, like a piece of it’s missing,” she murmured to herself as her hand grazed the embossed lettering. She pulled her hand back, for once displaying fear that he had never seen in her before. Theo took it upon himself to open the cover carefully, bracing himself for anything that such a dark item would throw at him. The book sat open in his hand, the front page of it completely blank, save for one tiny name in the corner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Adger Hayhurst...</span>
  </em>
  <span>”, Theo whispered, glancing at Luna, who was staring at it with such concentration that it seemed as though lasers were about to shoot out of her eyes and burn a hole in the page. He eyed the name before him with suspicion, half expecting it to contort into a giant beast made of ink and kill him. When nothing terrible happened, such as unexpected death, Theo deemed it safe to touch the inside of the book, and gently lifted the first page to turn it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, of course, nothing ever goes right with creepy demon books; it’s just an unwritten rule of life. So as soon as Theo’s fingertips touched the thick, yellowed page, he felt that sickening tug at his navel, and the world went blurry around him, spinning into swirls of unknown territory. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Draco winced and squirmed as the roots scraped his skin, constricting around him like a boa. Bits of dirt and plant matter stung his eyes as he was pulled down the narrow shaft in the ground, the light rapidly dimming as it deepened. He reached his arms up above him, desperately flailing for a handle or something to hold on to, but all they found was loose dirt and pebbles as he descended. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something wet and warm like blood dripped into his eye, but as he tried to brush it away, the vines circled his wrists in thick, organic bracelets. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>MERLIN’S HARRY ARSE-”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Above him, he could see the tumbling form of Potter free-falling down the crevice, yelling curses on his way down. The vines tightened around him, restricting his breathing and bringing his heart rate up like crazy. Draco began to go into panic mode, his head growing lighter, and his eyes swimming with fear. His inhalations became rapid and uneven as the vines crawled up closer to his throat, inches away from choking him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But they never reached their destination. Suddenly, his body landed on a crunchy, pointy pile of an unknown substance, and the vines receded just as rapidly as they appeared. He struggled to his feet, rubbing the sore scratches on his limbs and tripping over all the bits below him. There was a loud crash and yelp to his right, and he stumbled in that direction blindly in the dark. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“POTTER???” Draco could barely make out the shape of Potter curled up on the ground a few feet away, and could instantly tell that something was amiss when he got no response. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lumos,” He cast, and they were both illuminated in the soft blue light, revealing a heavily bleeding boy before him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>christ-</span>
  </em>
  <span> what the </span>
  <em>
    <span>hell</span>
  </em>
  <span> happened to you?” He grabbed Potter’s arms and studied them in a slight panic, and immediately ripped off his outer robe to stop the blood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ow- that really hurts- they appeared when I- </span>
  <em>
    <span>aRRgh- </span>
  </em>
  <span>when I tried to cut up the vines and now they’re all over and I it hurts like fuCKING hELL-” Potter gritted his teeth, clutching the cuts, trying to staunch the flow of blood with Draco’s robe. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lemme try something, ok? J-just wait a moment...</span>
  <em>
    <span>Vulnera Sanentur...Vulnera Sanentur..” </span>
  </em>
  <span>He ran his wand along the cuts, whispering the spell over and over, and, to his great relief, they began to heal over with fresh tissue. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow,” Potter whispered, watching the wounds heal, “You sure know that spell well, don’t you?” His voice almost sounded accusing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco glared at him. “I help you out by healing your cuts after your crazy arse vines drag me into a pit and then the thanks I get is an interrogation. How surprising.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“S-sorry- and thank you..it’s just that you did it really fast and knew what to do and stuff so m-maybe- oh, for god's sake, I don’t know.” Potter held out his arms before him in awe as the wounds healed over completely, knitting back together with only light marks where blood had been gushing from just moments before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve just got experience.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Experience?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Experience.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that so?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Indeed it is.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you gonna tell me about it…?” Harry raised an eyebrow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe, if you’re nice and get us out of this hole.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They both stood up tripping over the clunky objects below them with loud clacking noises. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where the hell are we? Lumos,” Potter lit his wand as well, lighting up the area a bit brighter. They both looked up towards the entrance where they came from, but not even a sliver of light was visible. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You got us into this mess, with your vines-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Those weren’t my vines-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then how come they cut you when you cut them?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hell if I know!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are we even </span>
  <em>
    <span>standing on</span>
  </em>
  <span>???” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both of them dropped their little argument to direct the light of their wands to the ground beneath them, shifting on the surface to see a bit better. He heard Potter inhale sharply, and saw his body tense as soon as he laid eyes on what was below. Draco shifted his own gaze down, and his breath caught in his throat at the sight. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bones. Human bones.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. det·o·na·tion</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the second half of the previous chapter. I apologize, but I'll be unable to post a complete chapter before Christmas, so I hope this one satisfies for a few days. Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you can still be happy this time of year, with everything that's going on. Anyways, here it is.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bones. Human bones.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It suddenly went silent, save for a few awkward crunching and clacking noises. It was rather uncomfortable to be in such close proximity to the boy who had caused him such mental anguish. Then again, Harry didn’t hate it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So I thought since you were a Malfoy you’d be kind of ok with human remains beneath your feet, you know, with all that death eater stuff and killing shite like </span>
  <em>
    <span>zap zap, </span>
  </em>
  <span>you know- oh, how lovely, look what I’ve found! A baby skull! I bet you’ve seen loads of these!” Harry shuddered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Actually, contrary to rather popular belief, I don’t scrounge up twisted scraps of joy by surrounding myself with the bones of the children I murder! Who even says ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>zap zap</span>
  </em>
  <span>’? And I can say with extreme confidence that I don’t really go around killing kids- that’s a bit extreme- and even if I did enjoy children dying at my hands, I probably wouldn’t take their skeletal remains, if that helps dispel your concerns.” Malfoy smirked, kicking aside a tibia or something like that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, yes, my concerns are incredibly decreased.  Thank you for clarifying that you don’t ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>zap zap</span>
  </em>
  <span>” young children. I am ever so fearful of the dreaded ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>zap zap’</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Harry grinned, despite their rather not smile worthy situation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As you should be- the ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>zap zap’,</span>
  </em>
  <span> is feared across the land.” Malfoy returned the grin, and, for a moment, Harry almost felt sort of okayish in his presence. This less uptight side of Malfoy had never been seen by Harry before- and he was actually enjoying it a bit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I had no idea you owned any sort of sense of humor that didn’t revolve around the suffering of others.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get to know me and, you never know, I might surprise you just a tad.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmmm.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was another spell of quiet, again filled with those uncomfortable bonish crunching noises. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...Maybe we should attempt to escape this rather deep pit…?” Malfoy’s voice echoed a bit around them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perhaps that would be a good plan. I’m not quite sure I’ll be able to come to terms with spending my remaining years on this planet in a troll hole with you.” Harry began to make his way in a random direction, hoping for some sort of exit, and, above everything else, putting all his energy into ignoring the bones.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ohoho! You’re not quite sure you want to spend the rest of your life in a pit with me? I would have assumed it was a definite no! Am I growing on you a bit, then?” Malfoy teased from somewhere behind him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose, just a tad- like foot fungus.” Not just a tad. A rather large amount, actually. But Malfoy didn’t need to know that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lovely. I always aspired to be foot fungus when</span>
  <em>
    <span>-Potter-</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Malfoy’s cut off from behind him with a sharp inhale mid sentence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Harry spun around as quickly as the setting allowed, alarmed by his tone of voice, heart rate quickening in a split second. At first the source of alarm wasn’t obvious, the situation taking a moment to sink in. But a most unsettling predicament became imminent as the bones around them began to rise ever so slowly. The movement wasn’t visible at first, like the motion of the hands of a clock. They began to link together, forming bodies, the bones glowing ebony where they clicked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He and Malfoy stood on edge, wands in hand, as the bodies rose in an army around them, stilling like statues as soon as they were complete. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...I feel like they should be moving,” Harry whispered after a long, tense moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Perhaps if we stay still and quiet we won’t activate them…?” Malfoy’s voice was barely audible, even in the silence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ok, then just don’t move.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well we’re going to have to move at </span>
  <em>
    <span>some </span>
  </em>
  <span>point.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well not if you don’t want our boney friends to move as well!” Harry slapped his hand over his mouth when his voice came out much louder than what was safe. The effect of the sound on the bodies was immediate. With a loud splitting sound, heavy ebony vines exploded from the rib cages of each of the skeletons, winding themselves through each limbs, securing the job that had already begun. When the vine growth subsided, there was a split second of absolute dead silence- but then they pushed into action, charging towards Harry and Malfoy in a mass of clanking and whispering, their empty eye sockets like abysses in their skulls. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The sight before him was absolute nightmare fuel. From head to toe, they were accented by disturbing features, and wreaked of death. But the noises these once human beasts made pushed it over the top. Their whispers drilled into Harry’s brain, immobilizing him, keeping him rooted to the now bare floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING???</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>All he could do was think.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>But he couldn’t. The voices controlled him like an imperius curse. The terror of not being able to function his own body wracked Harry in a new wave of panic, the un-wipeable sweat pooling on his brow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>SILENCIO!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>The beasts fell silent at Malfoy’s bellow. Not a single sound escaped them. And Harry regained his movement and control. God, how he took his body for granted. The two of them cast curses and spells and all kinds of crap, trying to take the beasts down. The boney creatures fought so primitively, but their hits looked lethal. They were stronger than they seemed, swinging their limbs and grabbing at the two boys to deliver a deadly blow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>IMMOBULUS!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>DIFFINDO</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>INCENDIO!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>BOMBARDA!!!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The entire mass of creatures went up in smoke and flames, burning. It was eerily silent, their mouths moving as if in pain, but with no sound escaping. The charred beasts fell at last, the glow of their bodies gone, all movement lost. The last bit of fire fizzed out, embers floating around them, soot covering their faces, tinting their bruises a dark gray. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How the hell did you do that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do what?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you MOVE? You cast a spell!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m honestly not sure. All of a sudden you just froze, even your eyes and mouth. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>It was rather strange. So I just cast a bunch of random shite until you moved again. I guess their voices could control you.” Malfoy was looking rather charred, his usually pristine hair a bit messier than normal, and seeming a tad fried. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh- thanks. For shutting up the boney bastards.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They went from boney friends to boney bastards?” Malfoy snorted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well that’s what happens when you control my mind and try to kill me. Oh- and also, before I forget- you’re head’s looking a bit toasty- or cooked- or well done on the steak scale-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Malfoy patted his hair down with his hands, looking more concerned to hear that his head was “toasty” than when the beasts appeared. It was amusing, and, if Harry had to be honest, it was also a little bit cute. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It does feel a bit crispy...at least it's not like your tangled mop-esque excuse for hair.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gee. Thanks. Always lovely to hear about my tangled mop esque excuse for hair.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll gladly complain about it anytime.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You git.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You bigger git.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry snorted. “All the insults in the world and an eloquent, fried headed prat such as yourself comes up with ‘you bigger git’.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lord help me. I’ve stooped to your level. If I descend any further, I’ll end up in hell.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a very strange and unknown reason, Harry didn’t retort to Malfoy’s insult. He didn’t even address it. Instead, he grabbed both sides of Malfoy’s bruised face with his dusty hands, and planted a kiss right there on his lips. </span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. nose·dive</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's definitely longer than the last! I've had a really rough past few weeks, so I might not post a chapter next week, and if I do, it'll be a few days late. I'm guilty of overworking myself and not sleeping (ooooops). Anyways, please enjoy this one, and next week there may or may not be one.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Theodore Nott~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Theo sighed, sinking into what felt like a plush carpet beneath him, a distant hum surrounding him in a comforting haze. He stretched as the hum grew nearer, wincing at the soreness of his limbs. The loudening hum turned into soft singing, the voice caressing his mind in layers of calm, and he stilled his aching body, letting himself drift in the song.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“London Bridge is falling down...”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It almost sounded like Luna. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Falling down, falling down…” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It was definitely Luna, that unmistakable airy tone. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“London Bridge is falling down…” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Theo tried to drag open his eyelids to catch sight of her, tried to use his voice to call her name. But nothing could be seen through his eyes and only a dry puff of breath came out of his throat. Theo inhaled in a panic as the air around him grew thick with dust, the carpet disappearing. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“My fair lady.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The carpet turned swiftly to something cold and hard, the chill cutting deep through his flesh, straight to the bone. It was dead quiet, Luna’s voice gone. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It wasn’t real. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He began to panic at the sudden change of temperature and noises. Yet, a slight tingle of relief washed over him as his eyes popped open, finally revealing his surroundings- a room shaped perfectly like a cube, every surface covered in giant hexagonal matte black tiles. There was no real visible light source...the grout between the tiles just seemed to emanate a dim glow. It was alarmingly small, and a sweat broke on Theo’s brow as the tightness of the space started to get to him. The heaviness of the air didn’t help...nor did the fact that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn’t move anything but his eyes and eyelids. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo’s brain fought and fought whatever was binding him, he fought and fought for control. But it became obvious that his struggles were futile and that he was only wasting his energy, energy he’d need in order to escape. Instead of continuing his fruitless attempts at gaining power over his body, he focused on calming himself down, knowing it was no use to freak out in a situation such as his current predicament. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo did his best to breath to the counting in his head, his heart rate slowly regulating. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a minute or so of inhaling and exhaling, a soft fizzing noise bubbled up in his ears, and a cold, tingling sensation wracked his body in a sudden wave. Swirling billows of fog rose from the cool tile beneath, burning his eyes and tainting his vision. It infiltrated his brain as he involuntarily inhaled wisps of the fog, making his head feel something he could only describe as iced over. It froze his mind, his senses fading and failing in rapid succession, his breathing slowing just as quickly. The room dimmed and disappeared, leaving him in the milky nothingness that surrounded him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The invisible ropes that were binding him released, dropping him through the fog, with no end in sight. Theo shrieked a bit whilst he fell, regaining his voice and a terrible sense of alarm simultaneously. The fog parted for his body during his headlong descent, and, though his brain was still muddled and icy, he could feel himself picking up speed as the fall grew more and more extensive. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo had always hated falling- whether it be in dreams, from a high place, from a low place, on a muggle ride, tripping on the uneven pavement, losing his balance on a broom...he abhorred it more than any other form of bodily damage. The terrible twisting gut sensation, the fearful energy that pumped through his veins...it was terrifying. And especially now, as he tumbled in the air, making him feel a bit sick as the world twisted and turned. He was now plummeting face down, his limbs behind him in a sort of anime running kind of thing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In a rather dreadful instant, he went from falling through the fog to colliding with something very hard and splintery, and the wind was knocked out of him with a faint </span>
  <em>
    <span>oof </span>
  </em>
  <span>noise. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Godric’s giant arse-” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Theo lay there facedown for a moment, the icy fuzziness of his brain messing with his movement. Nothing hurt, which was terribly suspicious. No limbs were aching, nothing felt broken, and his nose was surprisingly fine even after colliding face down with the floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Theodore?” he heard quick, soft footsteps approaching behind him, but the voice was too soft to identify…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Theodore, why are you lying on the floor? Are you ok?” His ears perked up at that voice he’d been hoping to hear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Luna? Luna is that you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why wouldn’t it be me? We’ve been here the whole time…” Gentle hands rolled him onto his back, and he was met with familiar, concerned silvery gray eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What- what do you mean- we’ve been here this whole time? Where’s the room I was in? Are you alright? Where’s the book? Don’t touch the book, Luna, don’t touch the book, please!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hush, hush you’ll see the room soon enough.” Her voice sounded so unnatural and...almost forced.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo’s blood ran cold. “What? What the hell are you talking about? Luna- what about the book? We have to figure out the funky death roo-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about those silly little things. They’ve already fulfilled their tasks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His heart rate accelerated, the panic coursing through his veins. Even with his muddled thinking he could tell he had begun shaking like a leaf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’ve already fulfilled their- Luna what the </span>
  <em>
    <span>hell</span>
  </em>
  <span> has it done to you-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s done nothing, Theodore. What makes you say that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theo scrambled away from her, fumbling for his non-existent wand, only to be stopped by a rather unfortunately placed wall. He glanced back up as Luna’s face began to change, skin sagging, hair thinning and shortening, eyes shrinking and darkening. Her height had changed, as well...she was at least four inches taller than before- well not “she”, actually...it was a man. A creepy, elderly man, with an unreadable expression and pasty looking skin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The voice, now deep and masculine, chilled him to the bone as he quaked in fear, pinned against the wall. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about the book, don’t worry about the room, don’t worry about anything. I’ll see to it that those worries will never cross your mind again. Come along now, Mr. Nott, there is much work to be done. You’re with me now. Oh, and-” he took out his wand, aiming it at Theo, who pressed up against the wall in fear, dread filling him to the brim. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Obliviate.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then it was only him and the milky white fog. </span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Hermione Granger~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hermione tugged the heavy burgundy knit blanket up further over her shoulders as a chill nipped at her through her sweater. The fire was still roaring strong, but even with the crackling flames, the cold of the stone walls sent shivers down her spine. Now lying down, she sighed, propping her head up on the armrest of the sofa. This was one of the few moments of the day where she forced herself to allow herself to relax. No books, no friends, no heaping stacks of parchment. Just Hermione, curled up on the sofa in front of the fire. She hated not being busy with something, and, though she appeared to be at ease, she was about as far away from at ease as humanly possible. Her brain was whirring and buzzing more so than usual, pulling her deep into her thoughts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her current calm demeanor could fool almost anyone from the outside. She had become a goddess at hiding how she felt over the years, focusing on pretending to keep a cool head in circumstances where a cool head was necessary. And evidently she’d managed to gull most of the people who knew her into regarding this facade to be true. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hermione’s friends thought her to be a rather level headed and brave person in life-threatening or frightening situations, a person who didn’t freak out over a little blood or dragon riding, a person who wouldn’t think twice about jumping in front of a train to save her friends. But in her brain, it was a chaotic battle between her and herself, a flurry of absolute carnage. She definitely was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>ok with blood; it made her brain all twitchy and jumpy. She definitely was </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>prepared to ride a dragon at any required moment. That was only once, yet everyone seemed to assume she could just summon and joy ride a beast such as that on any given day in any situation. No! Absolutely not! That was bollocks, rubbish, complete and total bullshite. Not to mention the fact that she MOST DEFINITELY was </span>
  <em>
    <span>NOT AT ALL </span>
  </em>
  <span>at ease with the idea of dying </span>
  <em>
    <span>on purpose, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and by the blow of a train, of all things. Not that she didn’t care about her friends...she did, and a rather large amount, at that. But it wasn’t like she wouldn’t think twice about it- in fact she’d probably think at least ten thousand times about it before she made up her mind. And by then, her friends would probably already be dead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And </span>
  <em>
    <span>what on earth</span>
  </em>
  <span> would she do if they died? Where would she be without the </span>
  <em>
    <span>pestering</span>
  </em>
  <span> of Ron, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>moody radiations</span>
  </em>
  <span> of Harry, the utterly whacked out ideas of Luna, and the sometimes MUCH TOO SMOLDERING passion of Ginny? It was their little flaws and </span>
  <em>
    <span>childish moments</span>
  </em>
  <span> that sometimes made her question, </span>
  <em>
    <span>would I really jump in front of a train for that little shite? </span>
  </em>
  <span>And even though they could be annoying and shitty a lot of the time, it was her holding the group together, whether it be Harry and Ginny in a quarrel or Theo and Ron fighting over their petty little crap. Salazar’s nuts, Hermione was practically their mother figure. Which was absolutely devastating, considering how much she hated momish people. She, herself, had become a momish person, and that was terrifying. She thought of the day to day trials she put up with for them all, each of them proving her descent into the land of adopting her bushel of full-grown, loveable idiots. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No Ronald, Theo didn’t put roaches in your slippers. They got there by their own accord, probably from the little crumbs from that cornbread you had stashed away.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Harry, turn that frown upside down, or I will manually do it for you with my pocket knife, you emo idiot.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>LUNA, STOP TRYING TO APPLY MAKEUP ON THOSE DEAD BEETLES THIS INSTANT. Godric’s tits, is that MY EYELINER?!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ginny. For the last time. Lighting Harry’s leg hair on fire to make him get out of bed before noon isn’t going to do anything but burn his flesh and cause him to pout like a child. He won’t even move an inch if you slowly cut off each of his toes with safety scissors. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She groaned and rubbed her eyes tiredly. She loved her friends, they were just...a lot sometimes. The current state of their little group was godawful. They were battered, bruised, and broken. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Every day, so many conflicts popped up here and there, so many weights held them down. For starters, Harry was a complete wreck. He wouldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, wouldn’t talk most of the time, and, worst of all, pushed everyone who cared about him away. She couldn’t even count on her fingers the amount of meals he’d missed, later saying he was “too tired” or “finishing up work”. It was rather hurtful that he didn’t feel comfortable telling her what was up, especially since they’d been so close for so long. Hermione couldn’t believe how Ron could just sit around while his friend deteriorated so quickly. Then again, Ron had his own issues to deal with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hermione’s relationship with Ron was rather...complicated. Especially since he’d been such an idiot for the last month or so. She didn’t understand why he couldn’t just accept the fact that she was friends with a Slytherin. Was that really such an ultimate crime? She wasn’t asking him to kiss Theo and hold his hand, she was only requesting that they try to get along. How hard could that be? Everyone else had sort of accepted it… and Luna and Harry were also friends with Theo! Really close friends with Theo. In </span>
  <em>
    <span>fact, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Hermione was beginning to think Luna had more going on with Theo than what met the eye. She observed the way they looked at each other, the way they talked. There was definitely something going on there (wink wink), and, if there wasn’t anything yet, there was going to be something soon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luna was something special, and Hermione could see why Theo and Luna got along so well (wink wink). Theo was such a kind, accepting person, and Luna was...Luna. He didn’t think it was weird that she enchanted pieces of toast to read out boring history books, he didn’t gag when she pulled out pieces of raw meat from her book bag, and he didn’t tease her for her knee high polka dotted mismatch socks and odd jewelry choices. She was different and a little crazy, that much was undeniable. Sometimes Hermione had to turn and walk away or put the kibosh on some crazy activity Luna was indulging in, but it seemed that Theo kind of just went along with it. Even though they’d barely known each other for a few months, their bond was so obviously strong and pure. It was sweet to see Luna have someone for her...it made Hermione wish she had something like that in her life. It was so different than what she and Ron shared, or what Harry and Ginny had, for that matter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry and Ginny’s relationship could mostly be described as overwhelmingly dysfunctional. They were always bickering or ignoring each other, or, the polar opposite, on top of each other and making out at the least convenient moments. The pair was beyond communication issues...at that point, they barely spoke a word to each other every day, and it was obvious that neither of them had any idea what the other was going through. Just watching them was so tiring. Lately, their interactions were nothing but Ginny pestering him, and him batting her away. Hermione could tell how concerned Ginny was for him, and she was scared of what her friend would do if Harry continued to act like that. Sometimes Ginny could take things just a tad too far. Speaking of Ginny, it’d been such a long time since her friend had left to go look for Harry, and as each minute ticked by, Hermione’s concerns grew. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She thrummed her nails against the cushion of the sofa, the soft tapping noise getting lost behind the popping of the fire. Her head shot up at a loud scraping and shuffling noise coming from the portrait hole, only to find that Ginny had tumbled through, her hair a mess, looking rather stressed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“HERMIONE HURRY YOUR ARSE OVER HERE AND GRAB YOUR WAND WE HAVE SOME SHITE TO DEAL WITH,” Ginny bellowed as she righted herself on her feet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell’s going on? Where’s Harry?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll explain on the way, just pick up the pace, come on come on!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hermione shoved the blanket aside and pulled on her outer robe, grabbing her wand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s past curfew, Ginny, you’re going to need to be a little more discrete then that, barging in here and yelling your head off,” Hermione whisper-huffed as they dashed down the hall, careful to be as quiet as possible. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No time to lag or complain, Malfoy attacked Harry and now the pair of them are in a pit, hurry up, hurry up!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hermione was so pissed that she saw red at the mention of Malfoy’s name. It was his damn fault that she was running through a freezing corridor at night. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re in a pit? What the hell are you talking about? And don’t tell me to hurry, this is as fast as I’ll go, I haven’t got all those hours of Quidditch practice like you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No time to explain, and yes, hurry the hell up!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pair sprinted out onto the Hogwarts grounds, tripping as Ginny stopped abruptly on a certain clearing of grass. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ve got to do something to get into the pit right here,” she puffed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just dig into it?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s worth a try. Let’s have a go at it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hermione stuck her wand out passionately before her. “CONFRINGO!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The ground beneath them made a terrible rumbling noise, then completely caved in beneath them. She could hear Ginny shrieking as they fell, and Hermione screamed just as loud as her stomach hopped into her throat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The air whipped past them as they descended, and at the last minute, as the bottom rapidly approached, she heard Ginny bellow a fiery, “MOLLIARE!!!!!!!!!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as the spell was out of Ginny’s mouth, the pair collided with the now cushioned ground, rolling and bouncing at the impact. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both of them hopped to their feet after the collision, the softened impact bringing no harm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Gin- this must be the pit they fell through. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Lumos.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stay close, I smell fire,” Ginny whispered, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Lumos.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>They crept through the dark, the ground crunchy beneath them. Hermione cast a quick muffliato to muffle their loud footsteps, fearful of what lay in the depths of the cave. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hermione, look...there’s a fire or something up there.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure enough, glowing rubble was visible just up ahead, and air was heavy with the smell. As they approached, two figures came into view, mostly hidden by the dark. Suddenly, one of the people lurched toward the other, grabbing what Hermione guessed was the other person’s head. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry?” She whispered, forgetting the muffliato cast on the two of them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god that’s gotta be asshat Malfoy trying to kill Harry, they were probably fighting-” Ginny screamed as she took off in the direction of the people. Panic filled Hermione, the urge to save Harry overwhelming. She skidded to a stop as soon as the two were clear and visible , grabbing Ginny’s arm to force her to cease running. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell, Hermione?” Ginny snarled, pulling her arm loose. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ginny, for fuck’s sake, look!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry and Malfoy were kissing. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. di·vul·gence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>OK here's the latest chapter! So I'm very sorry that I skipped last week, it was a kind of rough week, and I had a lot of work (school and LIFE argh argh). But I'm back! Woohoo! I hope you enjoy this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~ </em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Draco would have been a bloody liar if he’d tried to convince himself that he didn’t enjoy how close Potter was to him at that moment, if he’d denied how his heartbeat raced the instant their lips touched. Hell, suddenly the demonic skeletons weren’t the only bones in that pit. He smirked into the kiss when he felt Potter’s obviously flustered eyes burning a hole in his skull, leaning in a little bit more- </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>CrASH cLANK cLanK cRASh</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>What sounded like a rabid horde of rhinoceroses brought him to his senses as he pulled away, wand drawn, snapping back into reality in an instant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Potter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They scanned the area around them, the smokiness burning Draco’s eyes, squinting through the thick air- </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh FUCK. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The unmistakable fiery explosion of a furious redhead was charging towards them from their left, wand drawn, eyes burning. Her mouth opened as if she were cursing at him but- to his utter amusement- nothing came out. Weaslette stopped in her tracks and whirled around, as if attempting to shout at her partner in crime, Granger, who was several feet behind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh shite. Oh shite. It’s Ginny. I’m so fucked-” Potter frantically whisper rambled from behind him. Yeah. They were both fucked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The fluster on her face was evident as she screamed inaudibly at Granger, waving her arms in a frenzy. Granger frowned apologetically, and mumbled something- maybe a counter to a muffliato- then the redhead was back running towards them in full force and full VOLUME and absolutely all hell broke loose. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“GET THE FUCK OFF MY BOYFRIEND YOU CONNIVING ARSEHAT- HARRY DON’T WORRY, ME AND MIONE WILL SAVE YOU- DROP YOUR WAND, YOU D-BAG, YOU FERRET-FACED FUCKTARD-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco kept his mouth shut and dropped his wand, holding his hands up in surrender, throwing in the towel. Potter gaped at him as if to say “what the actual hell are you doing she’s going to rip every organ from your body and force feed them all to a dragon with her own bare hands.” He ignored it, taking all the verbal abuse as she approached.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Much to his surprise, Granger grabbed Weaslette’s arm and pulled her back forcefully, effectively stopping her in her tracks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“WHAT? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUC-” Weaslette shrieked, trying to twist her arm away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Quit running in guns blazing and actually pay attention, you absolute dum dum!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell do you mean, Mione, he’s gonna hurt Harry- LET ME GO-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE, GIN- They were kissing!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>You could pinpoint the exact moment on Weaslette’s face when Granger’s words sunk in. The look of utter horror and defiance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ginn-” Potter started from behind him, only to be cut off by his girlfriend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“NO! No! That’s not what was happening! Hermione’s wrong! You’re on something! That toerag has you on something! It’s a spell! It’s a potion! You’re not in your right mind...you’re not...he gave you a potion…” She trailed off, voice growing smaller. Granger placed a hand on her shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter looked at her with such a raw, apologetic look, and officially broke her. “Oh god...I’m so sorry oh lord I’m sorry-No...no. I’m in charge of my sanity right now, Ginny.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her face twisted into pure agony, the hurt obvious, but tinted with denial. “I don’t believe it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well start believing it,” Draco piped up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh shut the hell up, arseface. I know you did something to him.” She broke free of Granger’s grip and shot towards Draco, kneeing him in the balls, effectively disabling him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“whaT THE FuCk-” He shrieked as he doubled over, the pain blinding. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“TELL ME WHAT YOU’VE DONE OR YOU’LL LOSE BOTH YOUR NUTS-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“GIN!!!! HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING! I SWEAR! USE VERITASERUM ON HIM! I’m sorry but this is me in my right mind. I know I shouldn’t have done that-” He could hear Potter’s desperate voice from above him as he curled up on the floor like the weak coward that he was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I refuse to believe you’re shagging that fuckarse ferret behind my back. You’re not.” A burst of pain wracked him as she kicked his gut with the toe of her shoe while he was in a fetal position on the floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“uGffFf-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“GIN- STOP- Draco are you ok? You’re crying a little bit.” Potter knelt down and poked at his cheek. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“DO I FUCKING LOOK OK?? MY EVERYTHING HURTS FROM THE GUT DOWN-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As it should! SHAGGING MY BOYFRIEND- HARRY WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SMOKING???” Weaslette screamed, kicking Draco’s gut again. </span>
  <em>
    <span>SINCE WHEN WERE FEET SO POINTY?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“rGUUUHG-” Draco groaned and curled into himself more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not shagging! And not smoking anything either! Just like one actual real kiss right now- He protected me from those twisted buggers- I’m so sorry Gin, please stop hurting him- I’m so sorry for what I did-” Potter rushed beside him, pulling on his shoulder, which wasn’t helping the situation at aLL.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So it’s true then.” Weaslette’s voice cracked as she turned into Granger’s comforting hug, face contorted into an emotional mess. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s true-please, I’m so sorry-” Potter started.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not my fault I’m so devastatingly handsome-” Draco muttered from the floor, earning him a set of death glares from both parties involved. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m done with this! I’m done with your shite! With your baggage! You not telling us SHITE about yourself- GAY for GODS SAKE-I’m so done-” She sobbed into Granger, who stroked her hair comfortingly, finally speaking up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry, I have no idea what the hell you’re smoking, but you fucked up. I don’t think Ginny is ready to deal with this right now. I hope you’re happy, pushing us away and then fucking around with the boy who caused so much. Now you better find a way to get us out of here, because it’s you’re own bloody fault we’re in this fuckarse pit in the first place.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco, now over his initial pain, sprung to his feet. “Fine. Come on Potter.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait- but Gin-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Weaslette turned her soot stained face toward them, the tears making muddy tracks in the grime, framing her stone cold expression. “Get me the hell out of here and then leave me the hell alone. You’re no boyfriend of mine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter’s mouth opened and closed as if he was bewildered for a moment, then nodded and grabbed Draco’s arm, tugging him away, mumbling under his breath all the while. Draco stumbled over the burnt ground as he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>brutally tugged against his will. </span>
  </em>
  <span>They continued like this for a solid ten minutes or so, walking in a random direction away from the fiery female duo, until Potter abruptly cast aside his arm and stopped in his tracks with a frustrated huff. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Like a shot, there were two hands against Draco’s chest, shoving him, effectively causing him to stumble a good five or so steps backwards.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oi! What the hell was </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>for?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What in hell do you mean? You acted like a total twat and thanks to you, and in case you MISSED IT, I am now girlfriend-less!” Potter bellowed, red in the face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco felt a small pang of guilt in his gut, but pushed it down, immediately getting defensive. “ME? ARSEHAT? Not at all! Plus, you leaned in first, idiot!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I MOST CERTAINLY DID NOT!” Potter looked quite tomato-esque now, and it was rather amusing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You most certainly </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“GIT!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“HINEY-HEAD!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“CABBAGE SNORTER!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco pressed his hand to his chest and put on his best scandalized expression, mouth wide open. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You did not just call me a cabbage snorter- </span>
  <em>
    <span>POTTER- </span>
  </em>
  <span>that’s low, even for you!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know, I know, I’m so very terrible, blah blah blah.” Potter snorted and turned away from him, now facing the opposite direction. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ever so.” Draco grinned, trying to lighten the mood, but to no avail. The silence filled all the gaps like grout, covering them in a prickly, uncomfortable blanket. Perhaps a blanket sewn from a material akin to cacti pricks. Draco tapped his foot on the ground, a bad habit he’d picked up a few months prior. In the quiet, his tinnitus began to act up. The soft ringing filled the quiet, pestering his brain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sparing a short look, he caught a glimpse of Potter’s utterly dispirated expression and felt a familiar tug at his heartstrings. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Damn this softarse soul to hell. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Something needed to be done about Potter and his face. It needed to be illegal or something. Goddamn Potter’s face. Draco would never dare to admit it out loud, but Potter had these little squeezable looking cheeks like a baby, all pinkish and squishy looking. His face always made Draco so soft and mushy, like </span>
  <em>
    <span>warm cheese. </span>
  </em>
  <span>A person such as himself was not meant to be displaying similarities to </span>
  <em>
    <span>warm cheese. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Yet, here he was, walking over to the boy to awkwardly pat his shoulder, acting like some sort of socially inept father figure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter turned back to face him again and broke into a fit of laughter. “What the hell are you doing?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco felt his cheeks heat up. Damn Potter’s face to hell. “Only a total idiot like you could guffaw after being brutally broken up with- and to be honest, I have no fucking clue what I’m doing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is this an apologetic shoulder pat?” Potter smirked. Evidently, Draco was rubbing off on him too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose it’s something like that, if you must dignify it with a name.” Draco frowned and felt his face turn old man-esque with his frown lines. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter looked at him with genuine surprise. “Is the high and mighty rider of the tallest horses apologizing to me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I most certainly do </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>ride tall horses, you blunderbuss. And yes. This is an apology of sorts-” Draco fumbled with his words, “I mean I kind of fucked up, didn’t I? I should’ve pushed you away, or left, or something like that- God I really messed up, Godric’s giant hairy tits-”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t you dare mention giant hairy man tits during a heartfelt apology ever again. It’s not a pleasant mental image.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up and let me say what I’m gonna say.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine, arsehat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco took a deep breath. “I mean- you’ve saved my arse so many times and I respond by fucking with your head and making you believe you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>into </span>
  </em>
  <span>me and it cost you your own </span>
  <em>
    <span>girlfriend-</span>
  </em>
  <span> God, I should’ve pushed away, I should’ve said no-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well- well maybe I didn’t want you to say no.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco’s heartbeat tripled in speed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell are you going on about? If we find a way out of here- when we find a way out of here you can go to your Weaslette and explain it to her and say it was all my fault or something...I’ll get my arse whooped, but there’s still a chance she’ll take you back, there’s a chance you’ll be able to fix things-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe I don’t want to fix things.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Draco Mouth-joy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Though the title of this chapter may suggest otherwise, this chapter does NOT include sexual content. I hope you enjoy it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b> <em>~Perspective of Luna Lovegood~</em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>“<em> Adger Hayhurst… </em>” That name seemed so familiar. Luna felt as though she could almost compile a face to match the name, the person on the tips of her memory. She trained her eyes on the name, taking it in letter for letter, trying to jog some sort of recollection. But the echo of a face to pair with this name stayed locked behind bars in the back of her mind. Luna shook her head softly, and turned her attention back to Theo, who had just reached out to grasp the page between his fingertips. His hand had barely grazed the paper when his body swirled, getting sucked into the book- </p><p>“THEO-” She shrieked, shooting her hand out in a feeble attempt to grab him before he disappeared, instead grasping at thin air. Her insides twisted in a terrible way, the fear settling like a boulder in her stomach. </p><p>“Oh shite-Theo-” Luna lurched forward towards the book, thinking that maybe, <em> just maybe, </em>if she touched it, she could find Theodore- but the world stayed still as she planted her hand on the same page. She sucked in her breath, waiting for something to happen- anything at all- but for several seconds, nothing did. Then the whispers were back, surrounding her in the same cloud. This time, she didn’t back down, standing up tall despite her fearful quaking. The screams pierced her ears, but she screamed right back, voice filled with a boiling fury she had never shown before.</p><p>“WHAT’VE YOU DONE WITH HIM? Give him back! I won’t stop till you’ve given him back- even if it means I have to go in there and face you on my own!” </p><p>The cloud seemed to almost <em> pause </em> for a moment- as if it were sizing her up. Then it <em> spoke.  </em></p><p>
  <em> “Well well well...a feisty one. Perfect.”  </em>
</p><p>In an instant, it felt like Luna’s whole body was being torn apart, as though a million hands were grabbing and pulling, stabbing through flesh and bone. She screamed in agony as an icy cold filled her up to the brim, freezing her body in place. Her blood stopped. Her limbs ceased all movements. Her bones felt as though they were shattering all at once. The pain was blinding, flashing stars in her vision, her brain on overload. She choked on her breath, her entire body stopping.</p><p>A sickening sucking sound filled the air, the cloud completely disappearing into her chest. Luna felt her body move on its own, weakly pushing itself to its feet without her command. Her panicked thoughts pounded on the walls of her mind, pushing and prodding for an escape- before the voice came back, filling her skull. </p><p>
  <em> Hello Luna. Let's have poke around your past a wee bit, shall we? I’d certainly like to know who I am.  </em>
</p><p>The words chilled her, each letter swirling in her vision. </p><p><b> <em>No. </em> </b>She tried to reject the control, hating how her power was completely nonexistent. But she stayed stuck in her own mind, a terrible probing feeling filling her up. </p><p>
  <em> No?  </em>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>What is this?</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> This is us, my dear.  </em>
</p><p>There was a horrible whirring in her vision, and once the world was righted, her hands held themselves in front of her, much smaller than they used to be, her scars gone. Luna’s line of sight tilted itself upward- she recognized this. </p><p>The grass that so softly shifted in the breeze, the ashen clouds rolling above the horizon, the scattered wildflowers, the twigs and stalks poking up from the ground. The serene landscape. The smell of rain dancing around her nose, her patchwork dress, her yellow sweater. The earth beneath her, the sound of the wind in the brush...she’d been here before- </p><p>
  <b> <em>Don’t make me watch this again...please…</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> My darling Ms. Lovegood, you have no choice.  </em>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>Let me out...please...let me out-</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> Let you out of where?  </em>
</p><p>Luna watched helplessly as her body turned, her mother now directly in front of her. How Pandora’s mouth opened to cast the spell, how she thrust her wand in front of her, the passion on her face so beautiful, so strong. </p><p><b> <em>No- please- </em> </b>Her gut twisted uncontrollably, the memory she’d squashed down only dragging her deeper into her prison. </p><p>
  <em> So that’s how she went? What a pity. Let’s look at some more of your past, shall we?  </em>
</p><p>This time, after the whirring, Luna was seated next to Neville, sometime after the battle, bruised and bleeding. The cold hard bench beneath her felt so real, the scratchiness of her sweater, coated in grime. The giddiness of the past filled her with fake emotion. Neville’s warm eyes on here, once sparking joy, gave her nothing but pangs of guilt. Yet, though she struggled against her body, she was stuck right there, next to him. So fakely happy in their bubble, yet mere meters away from the rows of bodies, the shells of people who had once spoken, breathed, and felt. </p><p>
  <em> Guilt? I’m guessing it didn’t quite work out with this one, am I correct? </em>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>You’re the one in my head. So until you let me out, figure it out yourself. I will escape here. You can’t keep this on forever. </em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> How disappointing. That was my intention. Let’s revisit something a little closer to now.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Theodore! What brings you here?” Luna shivered at her own words from the past, internally quaking with anger and fear. </p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>What did you do with him?</em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> He’s safe.  </em>
</p><p>
  <b> <em>If you know who he is, why do you need to see this? </em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> What does that boy mean to you? </em>
</p><p>She bristled, ignoring his question. <b> <em>Let him go. I don’t care what you do to me, just let him go. </em> </b></p><p>
  <em> I’m afraid I’m going to need both of you for this. At least you’ll see him in another life.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“You’re a fascinating person, you know that, right? Not a bad sort of fascinating, a brilliant sort of fascinating. And pretty amazing if you ask me.” </p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>I’ll get you back, Theodore. </em> </b>
</p><p>
  <em> Good luck with that, sweetheart.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>~Perspective of Ginny Weasley~ </em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>“We’ll get back at him, you know? We’ll get back at him good.” Hermione mumbled into her ear, still embracing her tightly after over fifteen minutes. </p><p>“T-the horrible part is- I don’t hate him! I don’t hate Harry at all! I want to hate him so, so, so much! But I can’t hate him!” Ginny sobbed into Hermione’s sweater, the tears mixing with ashes, spreading a sort of tear sludge over her face.  </p><p>“I meant Malfo-”</p><p>“<em> Don’t </em> say his name. He’s already dead if I’ve got anything to do with it.” The pain in her chest doubled, twisting and turning like a snake. Disbelief still settled in her, her denial protecting her from the hurt. She simply couldn’t accept that she wasn’t chosen over that <em> bastard. </em>It was impossible. That just wasn’t an option in her head.</p><p>To Ginny, Harry was almost everything. Him, her friends, her family. That was her whole world. She strived to protect them, to insure their well being, to be there for them when they needed her. Harry had to be dead from the neck up to not see that. To not see how she was <em> always right by his side. </em>Always saving his arse. Always taking the time to say “Oh, Harry, by the way, how are you lately?” Every. Single. Day. </p><p>And, most of the time when she’d ask why he was looking rather vexed, he’d answer with something that had to do with dearest Ferret Faced Fucktard. “Oh <em> Ginny, </em> god, that <em> knobhead Malfoy- </em> do you know what he said regarding my socks? <em> Good lord! </em> He said they were <em> stupid </em> !” Then she’d have to fake shock, because <em> oh my stars, </em> her eighteen year old baby couldn’t handle when someone called his socks stupid. And then- for fuck’s sake- and THEN, that SAME Harry Potter, the boy she loved with all her heart- went off and decided to go snog the very blond devil that caused him so much anguish over the years. The knob head who let <em> Death Eaters into Hogwarts. </em> The gormless tosser who got Dumbledore <em> killed. </em>Could Harry really be so blind and naive as to pretend those things never happened- while in the process, pushing away everyone who loved him except the fake ferret who didn’t? </p><p>GOD she hated EVERYTHING about that absolute SUPREME ARSEHOLE MALFOY. She hated his face, his smirk, his hair, his <em> man stealing abilities unmatched by any-  </em></p><p>“Gin-” Hermione lightly poked her on the shoulder. </p><p>“...what?"</p><p>“We’ve been standing here for quite some time now.”</p><p>“And what about it?”</p><p>“My legs are eventually going to start seizing if I don’t move around a bit.” </p><p>“Fine, fine-” Ginny broke away from Hermione and plopped herself on the ground in a rather unceremonious fashion, ignoring the bone bits and ashes beneath her. </p><p>“He’ll never love him,” Ginny mumbled.</p><p>“Hmm?” </p><p>“That ferret will never love him. I doubt he even has <em> any </em>interest in Harry whatsoever- I’d bet everything I’ve got that he’s only doing this to mess with Harry’s heart,” Ginny growled from the floor.</p><p>“I don’t know, Gin- I mean, I’ve been noticing him watching Harry and stuff, and earlier- after they...you know- he seemed really genuine-” </p><p>“Are you suggesting that he actually <em> likes </em>Harry? Have you gone just as mad as Harry has?” </p><p>Hermione put her hands on her hips. “No, I’m just pushing my emotions aside and looking at the facts. Maybe you should try it someday.”</p><p>“Oh, sorry <em> Ms. Smartyarse, </em> it’s not like my <em> boyfriend </em> just <em> cheated on me </em> with our <em> arch nemesis that committed so many sins there’s probably not even a space in hell for him. </em>” That shut Hermione up. </p><p> </p><p>
  <b> <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~ </em> </b>
</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe I don’t want to fix things.” Oh <em> fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck the fuck fuck. </em> What in <em> hell </em>did he just say? Oh lord have mercy, his soul was damned. At least he was sure that he hadn’t been really into Ginny for the past four or so months. And, though it pained him to admit it, he’d sort of been stringing her along for security reasons. It sounded quite evil, but now it was over with them...so he was free to be into whoever he wanted, right? </p><p>Harry looked up at the other boy, his heart doing somersaults and beating in his chest with the force of a sledgehammer being wielded by a mountain troll. Even in the dim light, he could see Malfoy’s face flushing a bit, even though the entire lower half of it was hidden by one hand as he turned a bit to hide it. </p><p>“Excuse my confusion- but- if you could explain- what?”</p><p>Harry’s heart flip flopped in his chest a bit. <em> Am I sure about this? Why am I doing this? What the fuck am I doing? Oh Godric’s tits, does this make me a little bit gay? Goddamnit, why aren’t my lungs working properly- what if this is a mistake- what if I weird him out a bit- </em></p><p>“I said that maybe I don’t want to fix things. M-meaning with me and Ginny.”</p><p>“What in hell are you talking about? You’ve <em> got </em>to fix things with Ginny! You’re not saying you want to throw that whole thing with her away-”</p><p>“I’m saying that- I don’t know- yes that’s what I was trying to get across.”</p><p>Malfoy turned even redder. It was sort of cute, in a weird, blonde tomato sort of way. </p><p>“Apologies, but- what do you mean?” Malfoy ended up squeaking out. </p><p>“You’re rather good looking when you’re flustered.” <em> Oh god I’m such a plonker, did I really just say that?  </em></p><p>His words only seemed to put Malfoy’s heart into more of a flutter.</p><p>“Of all the things in the world, you say that- what’s that supposed to mean?” Malfoy waved his arms in emphasis, then quickly went back to shielding his beet red face. </p><p>“Oh dear god, do I really have to say this out loud?” Harry bit the inside of his cheek. </p><p>“You have no choice now.” </p><p><em> What the hell am I going to say- </em> “You’re not as insufferable as you used to be.” <em> HARRY HARRY NO NO THAT’S NOT HOW YOU WIN SOMEONE’S HEART, YOU TWIT.  </em></p><p>“Really? Is that all?” Harry could hear the slight disappointment in Malfoy’s voice. <em> Oh god, I fucked up.  </em></p><p>“No- no, it’s not-” he backpedaled hurriedly. </p><p>“Well then get the hell on with it!” </p><p>“Good lord, the kisses didn’t say it for me? Fine, fine- though it pains me greatly to admit this out loud, I have grown somewhat...attached to you? In a...romantic fashion…?” <em> Oh christ-  </em></p><p>Harry barely had any time to register what was happening before Malfoy’s chapped lips were on his own. It was a very passionate kiss, and, though it was their third, it felt the most real. Harry felt his heart beating at a most unhealthy rate, and, when they broke away from each other, found himself longing for more. </p><p>Malfoy’s hands lingered gingerly on his face for a moment, warm against his skin. </p><p>Then Harry did the biggest fuck up of all. </p><p>“Draco Malfoy? More like Draco Mouth-joy. Eh? Eh? Get it?”</p><p>“For fuck’s sake, <em> Harry</em>, you insufferable pillock, never ever call me that again.” </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. HIATUS</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hi readers!</p><p>I know my chapters have been shorter and not as good lately, and if you're wondering, it's because I've been super duper stressed out. I've been doing a lot of different things, and along with juggling my school work and mental health, I've realized that it's better to take time off than to keep pushing myself too hard. In summary, I'm calling a brief hiatus to take some time to regroup.</p><p>I will be back on February 3rd with a new chapter. Thank you for reading! I hope you've been enjoying this so far! I apologize for delaying the next chapter, but as much as I hate myself for making this decision, I really need this time off. Again, I'm really sorry for making you wait, but I'm not doing so hot. Thank you! See you next week! </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. un·heed·ed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My hiatus is officially over, and, now that it is, I can see that it was almost futile as I did anything but relax. Oops. Anyways, thanks for waiting! </p><p>Please enjoy this weeks chapter! See you next week!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Draco Malfoy~</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the pair shared a tender and rather revolutionary kiss that Draco slightly wished would never end, his brain started shooting doubts at him at rapid speed. So much had changed in the last few minutes, and that roller coaster of surprises put the pedal to the metal and completely wracked Draco’s entire body with dread. There was so much confusion revolving around Weaslette, and Potter’s friends, and completely shattered moral standards (not that Draco had many to begin with), and all of Draco’s own internal conflicts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Deep down, he hated himself for enjoying that kiss so much, but regardless, he kept going for more. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This is Potter we’re talking about. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Draco, you need to pull away. Every second you stay, you’re only making it harder to leave. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>This is Potter. Arch nemesis.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Four eyed twat. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How could you even stoop so low, Draco?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Even if Potter </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>a four eyed twat, he was an incredibly attractive four eyed twat. Draco let his doubts slip away for just a little bit, savoring the feeling of satisfied wanting for once. His heart panged in disappointment as they pulled away, too quick. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Draco Malfoy? More like Draco Mouth-joy. Eh? Eh? Get it?” </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the actual fuck- </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco swept his hand over his face in a hurry to hide his growing blush, attempting to mask his beet-esque tones with a see-through scowl. </span>
  <b>
    <em>No, Draco, that should most definitely not make you blush- hide that, you horny shit-</em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <span>“For fuck’s sake, Harry, you insufferable pillock, never call me that again.” As soon as the sentence came out of his mouth, he realized what he had said, and clapped his hand over his mouth in mortification. Potter did a little frenzied jig and pumped his fists in the air like a four year old- he was practically the same height as one anyways, but that was besides the point. The horrifying factor beneath that whole display was that Potter had heard Draco call him-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>
    <em>HARRY</em>
  </b>
  <span>! HOLY HELL! YOU SAID HARRY!” Potter shrieked as he jumped about, way too closely resembling a jackrabbit under the influence of ecstasy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Much to his own dismay, Draco’s first instinct was to deny that the name had ever left his lips. “I said no such thing. I wouldn’t dare taint my innocent mouth with your first name.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“First of all- I CLEARLY HEARD ‘H A R R Y’ COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, I’m not deaf yet, you gormless plonker. I may be blind as a wrinkly old bat, but I still have my sharp hearing! Top notch, these ears are! HA! And second of all- innoc- oh good LORD- innocent mouth-” Potter dissolved into an even more intense fit, this time with added hysterical guffawing, “What </span>
  <em>
    <span>KIND </span>
  </em>
  <span>of innocent do you mean now, Malfoy? Cause I’ve heard you swear like a sailor, even around superiors. Unless you mean the </span>
  <em>
    <span>other </span>
  </em>
  <span>sort of innocent, but I don’t think that’s what you’re implying-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, it’s very innocent- in the latter of your two forms of innocence.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait- wait- you’re a virgin?” The look of shock on Potter’s face was absolutely priceless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Indeed, Draco was a virgin. He was an extreme virgin. He’d never even really </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>dated anyone, let alone go any further. Yet a troubling amount of his peers existed while still believing that he’d just been hopping from bed to bed, akin to a shenanigan-involved kangaroo.</span>
</p><p><span>“Yes, I am a virgin- the king of them, in a weak, spindly sort of way- do I strike you as the type of person who wouldn’t be a virgin for any...</span><em><span>particular</span></em> <em><span>reason</span></em><span>?” Draco wiggle-waggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. On the outside, he could imagine that he looked rather confident, while his emotions did the same little jig that Potter had engaged in a mere moment prior. </span></p><p>
  <span>Potter, on the other hand, seemed to be that kind of person who found it rather unnecessary to hide anything he was feeling at any time at all. The kind of person who would engage in the scandalous act of giggling at a funeral. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, you nutcase,” The raven-haired boy countered, “And I’ll eat my own innards before I believe that you’re a virgin, even for a second.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Aha, so he does find you devastatingly attractive. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll repeat myself for you, pea brain: I am the king of the virgins.” Draco’s brain produced a rather strange mental image of himself wearing a little crown atop a mighty virgin throne. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re-you’re having a laugh, aren’t you? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Aren’t you?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Potter sputtered from his thick-skulled stupor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Though my smirk is ever-present, no, I’m not pulling your leg.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow- I’m not sure what to say.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow indeed. I’m just as baffled as you are.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter rolled his eyes in a dramatically slow fashion. “How in hell did your ego get so inflated? Godric’s tits, if egos had a determinable diet based on their size, yours would eat only 100% extremely sodium rich foods in order to retain its bulbous nature. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, please, </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>don’t even need to use your thick-arse bottle bottom glasses to recognize my perfect facial structure and undeniably attractive masculine build.” Draco grinned and internally chuckled at Potter’s abstract association of ego sizes and food consumption. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So a pasty string bean is attractive by today’s standards?” Potter teased. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, wait- didn’t you confess your </span>
  <em>
    <span>own</span>
  </em>
  <span> undying attraction to me about ten minutes ago?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter visibly stiffened at the comment, touching the back of his neck, a habit that popped up whenever he was embarrassed, Draco noticed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did that. And then you smashed your face into my face in an epic display of passionate mutual attraction.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco felt a little flurry of guilt in his gut. “I shouldn’t have.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Potter frowned. “Why is that?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It wasn’t right of me- now I’ve only confused you more, especially with Ginny and everything. I really shouldn’t have at all-” Draco thought back to his own period of sexuality incertitude, even his own recent denial of his attractions to Potter. The whole deal with actually acknowledging his emotions was a great deal more difficult than Draco had ever imagined. He cursed himself once again for letting himself take a liking to the one person he would have sworn to never let any feelings land on- except for pure hatred, of course. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want to be with Ginny- just disregard her for this conversation- and I don’t think I’m confused.” Potter countered, obviously frustrated. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re only saying that now because you’re all excited about it- in a few days you’ll regret everything you said to me in the last hour.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco told himself that he was only saying all this for Potter’s own emotional safety, but deep down, a piece of him knew that he was only doing it for himself. It was bad enough that he felt things for such a person, and it was even more terrible to think that those feelings Potter claimed to reciprocate might not have been completely real. Draco was, more than anything, rather frightened that Potter had only got caught up in the enrapturement of the moment.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you really believe that that’s what’s going to happen?” Potter asked, a lot softer than before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco’s heart dropped into his feet, but he nodded despite himself. Draco silently mused at the idea of someone hearing all of his internal dialogue, imagining their display of pure confusion at every twist and turn of his feelings. He thanked the heavens above that all of that brain rubble stayed under his watch only. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well how do you know that’s going to be the outcome? There’s no possible way-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Experience. Please,” Draco put forward dolefully, “Maybe it’s a good idea if you take some time to figure it out on your own. Honestly, I’m still- I’m still rather internally conflicted as well.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you saying that you don’t even know if you </span>
  <em>
    <span>like </span>
  </em>
  <span>me?” Potter looked so dejected, and Draco frantically backpedaled to clear up the situation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“NoOOoo- no- not at all what I’m saying. I just hate myself for feeling this way,” he admitted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah. Right. Arch nemesis, blood status, all that juicy shite you’re hanging on to. So you think we both need a couple days to figure it out?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe just for some time we should steer clear of each other, is what I’m saying.”</span>
  <em>
    <span> I don’t want to do this, but I need to do this, for myself, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Draco confessed internally. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well we can’t do that yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh? And why is that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because we’re stuck in a fucking pit, you absolute </span>
  <em>
    <span>plonker</span>
  </em>
  <span> of an albino ferret.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And despite the fact that he was standing there getting brutally insulted by the very same person who claimed to have feelings for him, he smiled. A rare sight that hadn’t been seen in ages. A genuine smile. It wasn’t every day that hot guys confessed to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco decided to savor that feeling for however short it would last. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Ronald Weasley~</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ron noticed that it was unnaturally quiet in a ring of about a few feet around him that morning at breakfast. Like a sound bubble had fallen on him. Everyone was talking, but nobody was talking where he was. The bustling of the great hall buzzed in the background, almost muffled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He assumed his regular group was avoiding him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>One look around the table confirmed his suspicions. His friends were ignoring him again. Or so he thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lifting his head, he silently took note of the people who weren’t there. Not being the most observant person, it took him till that very morning to notice the people closest to him were gone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No silvery hair, no dreamy voice. No Luna. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No glasses or sleep depravity. No Harry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No frenzied studying, no obnoxious nagging. No Hermione. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No fiery red locks similar to his own, no ferocity that radiated for miles around. No Ginny. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone had gone. Ron decided that they were just angry with him. Decided that </span>
  <em>
    <span>no, no </span>
  </em>
  <span>it wasn’t at all concerning that four of his best friends were MIA. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They’ll all return soon, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that’s how it’s always been and that’s how it’ll always be. They’re always leaving cause they’re mad. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t think it was all the peculiar that Harry had never come back to the dorm the night before, that Hermione hadn’t nagged him about studying after the previous supper, that Ginny hadn’t sought him out to tease him about something or to whack him with a pillow, or that Luna hadn’t popped in to say hello and to try to talk to Harry about some weird book or something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In his head, they were only angry. Not missing, no. Just angry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ron didn’t really think he’d done anything terribly wrong. He knew why Hermione and Ginny were frustrated with him- but was it really such a terrible deed to refrain from prying at Harry’s emotional boundaries? In his opinion, Hermione and Ginny were in the wrong for treating him the way they did, with all their poking and prodding. They just had different opinions than him, which was probably why they were mad. On the other hand, he hadn’t the slightest idea of why Harry or Luna would be pissed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t dwell on that thought, though. There was food to be eaten. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In his own breakfast bubble, he picked at his food, the waffles already getting rubbery in the morning chill. Ron swiftly chugged his orange juice, shoveled hash browns into his mouth between bites of scrambled eggs. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just cause they’re angry with me doesn’t mean I shouldn’t eat. It’ll be like any other day. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>If he’d only taken his head out of his little bubble for a second, he would have realized that Theodore Nott, a regular at their section of the table, was also gone. And that would’ve led him peek at the Slytherin table for an answer. That peek would have revealed that Draco Malfoy, too, was missing. Perhaps that fact would have struck some sort of suspicion in Ron’s mind, and maybe, just maybe he would have gone to find his friends. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But no. The breakfast bubble was impenetrable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Ron stayed in it. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They’ll come back when they’re ready. They always do. </span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. ink</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi there! This chapter is a tad shorter than usual, apologies. I hope you enjoy it still!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Luna Lovegood~</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p><b><em>Haven’t you seen enough?</em></b> <span>Luna practically snarled at the voice in her head. </span></p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Of course not. It’s good for me to know everything about who I have. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She calmed herself, thinking maybe she could strike a deal with her captor. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>Why don’t you show me something from your past? It’s only fair, and I’m curious. I’ll be more content to stay here if you do. </em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sneaky one, aren’t you? Being inside your head, I know that you have no intention of staying here. But I might as well show my most prominent memory, hmm? What’s the hurt in that? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, she was holding a page in her hands, the parchment worn and crisp under her touch. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>What’s this? </em>
  </b>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just read. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>So Luna read. </span>
  <em>
    
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Dearest Woolboy, </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>By the time you read this, I’ll undoubtedly be gone. But before I go, I thought I’d give you some explanation, some closure to my story. After all, the worst thing an author could do is leave you with untied ends and never tie them for all of eternity. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>So. Where do I even begin? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I suppose I’ll explain how I write what I feel. I write from my brain to my fingertips, each thought going down onto the material I taint with my words. The pen in my hand, the paper beneath it...the only things that keep me alive are these essential ingredients for my own potion of ever so slight stability. With the passion that I possess, with the beauty of words, I write, and am continuing to do so until just minutes before my ultimate demise. Because I may not have a story to tell...and I may not have a life interesting enough to be lived by others through the mere form of words- but I do want to tell a story. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I need someone's story to tell. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Let me hear your words. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>'Let me feel your pain and your pleasure. Just hand me your issues,' I would cry to the empty room before me, just waiting for the end of the month, waiting for the familiar banging on the door of the small space I called my own. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Waiting for the landlady’s voice that screams. 'YOU TOLD ME YOU’D MAKE IT RICH BY NOW, YOU SCUM-EATING MINGER! Some author you are!'</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Except this time, the words 'You can’t expect a home here anymore,' came out of my landlady’s mouth, along with the usual ones. I know I didn’t mishear. She’s yelling at me right now. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My point is- I will beg. I am desperate for a story that isn’t my own. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>My knees will grow raw from kneeling before you, as I forever plea for the weight you hold to be transferred onto my own shoulders.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For I cannot truly live under my own life. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m not satisfied with my level of luck. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m not happy with my joy. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Grin and giggle. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Skip and play. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Why can’t I feel pain like them? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m not valid until I live through something that, in the end, I cannot. So I might as well put myself through pain just for the sake of a story. Maybe just these few paragraphs could be something in the end. Something worth reading. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Though I’ve been telling myself for years to be content in the things that I had, to be happy with the wonderful life I was given, I never was. Sure, I’ve got my small issues (housing and such), but I want a tragedy. I want my own harrowing story to tell. So selfish, yet so undeniably true. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I have been bested by my own emotions. They’ve won. My sense of gratitude lost. A bloodbath inside my own head, having emerged completely from the dark cloud that I forever lived beneath. A war that had such passionate beginnings ended with no distinct sides. And I was fine with that...it finally gave me a fleeting sense of inner peace. After just dipping my toes in that sensation, after just a small dose, of course I wanted more. Despite my neverending longing for a story through my own pain, despite my unhealthy craving for attention at my own expense, despite my hopes that I will, one day, be hurt more than anyone else in the world...despite all that, I still want that old sense of calm that I once felt. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What a silly and conflicted human being I am, hmm? </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Anyways, as I’ve mentioned once before, I write with all my raw emotions. I write what I think, I write what I feel. I say what I want to say. Unfiltered. I was under the influence that writing from the pure depths of my own heart made my writing exceptional...extraordinary in comparison to the works of other authors of my time. Assuming I was superior was, and always will be, my greatest downfall. The belief that I had become a more powerful writer than the writers before me, solely because I spoke from my heart, led me to great disappointment in my life.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Over the years, there were pretty words and ugly words, and there were some pieces of writing that were so utterly shitty that I couldn’t even read them without choking on my own spit in a fit of frustrated laughter. Yet once I filtered out all that, I managed to scrape together a complete piece of writing I could finally call my own. It was a magnificent feeling, and I rode that high.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As you know, I’m a muggle, and because of that, I used muggle ways of publishing work. This included mailing my work to a publisher and waiting. Lord, the waiting sucked arse. I waited and waited and waited, doing nothing in the time between sending and receiving a note back. And eventually, I did. I received a note back.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Just not the kind of note I’d been hoping for. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I received a note explaining why they were declining my work. 'It’s too personal and isn’t captivating enough, we’ve seen loads of pieces similar to this, all of them superior to what you sent us.'</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I never did bounce back from that.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And, as you can assume, I never found a story to tell.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I never got my tragedy. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Which is why I’m making my tragedy. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Goodbye, Woolboy. I know I promised you I’d stick around for a while...but I never really did keep my word. I can’t keep going on like this. I’m sorry for putting you through this, but maybe I can watch you from hell.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe you can be in my tragedy. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Forever yours,</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ink.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. woolboy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>~Perspective of Adger Hayhurst, 78 years prior~</em>
  </b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>
    <em>“</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>There’s a sort of simplicity in what I do. Even though so many others believe writing to be this whole complicated process, I believe in the emotional aspect of it. You know, Woolboy, I don't really have a process at this point, and sometimes that worries me. I just sort of...write what I’m feeling. But that makes me a good writer! One day, you’re gonna see me in the morning paper, ok? I promise! I’ll be so accomplished for my age and everyone will know my name!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Adger opened his mouth in the midst of his slumber to respond, just like he’d done just years before. “INK-” was all he managed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, like every other time this occurrence happened, she was gone. The emptiness inside him was all too familiar, the coldness that filled him, unstoppable even with the heaviest blankets. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sick of this- Ink, why did you always have to go?” He whispered to himself in the dark for the umpteenth time, the words meaning just as much as they did every single time they were uttered prior. Well, maybe not just as much. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>That night, Adger meant it a little bit more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His clock read that it was 3:23 in the morning, which was roughly when he woke up every night. But for the first time in his life at 3:23 in the morning, he decided that she would never be gone again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And thus the trials began.  </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“My original plan was to create a past version of you by using a spare person and my own memories. That proved itself wrong, obviously. Or else I wouldn’t be writing in this damned journal. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Now I’m going to try something a bit different than what I was testing before.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I hate society, that’s a given. I wouldn’t miss it at all if I were to leave it, and I’ve told you all about that in the past. So what if I create my own home and life within something smaller, where everything is perfect and everything is as it was when the quality of life was so much better? A slice of the past where I can forget about my true present. Forget about this absolute hell that I call a world. Honestly, I’m surprised I haven’t just killed myself. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Guess I’ve always been more of a coward than you, huh?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Every page of that journal was filled from top to bottom with words towards his long lost friend. Notes of his experiments. Diagrams and sketches. But it wasn’t till page 527 of that extensive journal that news of a breakthrough was written. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’ve done it, Ink! I’ve done it. The very thing we joked about as kids! See, using my memories after extracting them, I’ve created an actual world within a closed environment, built from only those very sights from our past. All I need to do is find an inconspicuous object to house this world, to make it possible to pass in and out of it if need be. In this little world, I’m assuming that I can bring you back using only my memories, just like how I created the scenery and such. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Tonight I’ll enter it. Tonight I’ll bring you home. I promise!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Giddiness buzzed through Adger for the first time in ages, the pure joy and excitement of a potentially successful experiment rushing through him. He’d found the perfect object, just an old book that nobody would try to read. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The transfer of the created world </span>
  <em>
    <span>into </span>
  </em>
  <span>the book went a great deal smoother than he’d assumed it would, each thing perfectly placed in this bubble. All he had to do was cast the small charm he’d created to enter it as well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even though his wand was ready in front of him, he hesitated, the worst case scenarios flashing through his mind. What if he messed up and turned into a book? What if he became a half human half book? What if he </span>
  <em>
    <span>failed after all this work</span>
  </em>
  <span>? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nevertheless, the spell was cast, and the young Adger Hayhurst opened his eyes that’d been sealed tight just moments before. And he was standing in- one of the places where he and Ink had always gone as kids! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pride swelled through him, the success of this part of his plan only feeding his ego. His confidence grew too strong, though, and when he began to work on bringing his long-lost, beloved friend back, it was soon obvious that it was impossible. His high hopes led him to greater disappointment. He had failed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In an attempt to right the world he’d created, he tried to leave it, to fix it from the outside, just like how he’d built it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But experiments are called experiments for a reason. One could never be sure that the planned experiment would work out exactly as they assumed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And soon, Woolboy found himself trapped in this empty place, a world with nobody but himself and the now painful emptiness of the past. He’d broken his promise. </span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been hours since the flashbacks started. Adger had never really thought about the effect a memory created world would have on a living soul, and right then, he was living through the results of his careless testings. Every minute or so, he was wracked by a memory used to build the world, good or bad. It was horrifying to live through such an experience, and the thought of it drove him teetering on the outer brink of insanity in just a few days. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the time between these flashbacks, he decided to plan further, never happy with what he got. In the end, his sleep deprived and muddled brain decided that it would be smart just to get a few living people in there with him to use as and turn into the people he wanted back. But that would take years, and he knew it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So in the meantime, he lived through hours and hours of the hellish and beautiful past he called his own. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Why do you always tie your boot laces like that? It’s so weird looking.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A jumbled mass of laces flopped about from the top of his companions boots, the knot thick and complex. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Well, you never see my laces coming untied, hmm? That’s because I tie them like this.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Will you teach me?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Of course I’ll teach you. Then I’ll have a matching weirdo booted buddy.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ink knelt down, gentle hands weaving knots in his laces with swift movements. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Aren’t I already your buddy?” Adger asked timidly. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“HA- definitely! You shouldn’t have to ask that. Except now you’ll be my buddy with the same weird boot laces as me.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Ink, can I ask you a question?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She looked up at him, wide golden-brown eyes curious.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Sure, anything.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Do you have any other friends?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She tensed. “Not really. Nobody wants to be friends with a girl with such ‘boring aspirations’ as they say. My family told me that I’d be poor and half-dead and living on the streets if I tried to write a book for income.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Well I think you can do it, and all those other people are missing out on being friends with you! One day you’ll be super famous and everyone will want to read your work.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ink hummed, her soft voice carried by the breeze. “Maybe...maybe. I think I can make that happen. But you’re gonna have to read it all before I do anything with it! Maybe you can be my editor.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I’d love that!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“And I just know that one day, our lives won’t be like our boot laces, hmm? Unnecessarily complex and knotted up. I’m sure things’ll get better.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Of course they will. We’ll grow old together and use all that money from the book to live long, happy lives.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“How do you know we’ll live a long time, Woolboy?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>What he would've given for that feeling to have been true. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. please read this</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hello readers, </p><p>It is I, elusive_lagume. For the past month or so, I've been dealing with a lot of pressure, stress, and internal negativity coming from many different places and have been struggling with my mental health. Usually writing makes me feel a lot better, but it's difficult for me to churn out more than a sentence right now. My motivation this month has just completely dropped. I'll be back around March 9th, so about two weeks time. Thank you for reading and hopefully understanding. I am really really sorry. </p><p>-elusive_lagume</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. peb·ble</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>~Perspective of Harry Potter~</em>
  </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Damn pebbles- so </span>
  <em>
    <span>unevenly placed- </span>
  </em>
  <span>and they're always getting all stuck in my shoes, too...such a pain in the arse," Harry fumed at the rocky terrain below him, "I hope every single pebble burns in hell." He dug his pointer finger into the back of his shoe, pulling out another pesky little pebble. Annoyed by how long they’d been stumbling around in the dark, he struck one with his foot, watching it fly into the darkness. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Malfoy grinned and shook his head. “Your hatred for pebbles is so frighteningly passionate.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am a man of great enthusiasm. And they deserve it, every single one of them!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you say s- wait- Potter!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry whirled around, ready to blast a hole in something. “What? What is it?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you hear the pebble land?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean? Of course it landed.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“YeS, but I didn’t hear it hit anything, there was no </span>
  <em>
    <span>plonk</span>
  </em>
  <span> or </span>
  <em>
    <span>crack </span>
  </em>
  <span>or </span>
  <em>
    <span>bangbang.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well maybe it just went kinda far or something like that...and not everything goes </span>
  <em>
    <span>plonk, crack, </span>
  </em>
  <span>or </span>
  <em>
    <span>bangbang </span>
  </em>
  <span>when it lands. Not that you’d know, I bet you don’t even have the strength to pick up a pebble at all,” Harry teased. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well it would’ve made some sort of noise, that’s all I’m saying, the shape of this pit would allow for adequate sound travel- and I bet I’m stronger than you...just look at these gorgeous, toned, masculine arms!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry itched his grime-matted hair and smirked. “I’m confused, mostly about the fact that you think your arms are toned and gorgeous. And I’m also confused about the pebble thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Malfoy skillfully dodged an argument, saying, “Try to keep up, numbskull. Maybe the pebble never landed,” instead of advocating for his arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!” Harry nodded fervently, as if to signify some sort of understanding, but inside his head, no ends were meeting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...You don’t get what I’m saying, do you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry snorted, waving his arms about. Little did he know, it seemed as though he was impersonating a strange, deformed pig. “No, I have no bloody idea what you’re talking about, please keep in mind that my brain gears turn at the rate of an elderly, shriveled up slug.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, I should’ve figured that out by now. Anywho, let's just go in the direction of the pebble and see what happens.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t see the point, but fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They continued forward, stopping every few feet so Harry could pick another pebble of his shoe. The never ending supply of them created a plethora of tiny bruises on the soles of his feet, but he quit his complaining in a feeble attempt to appear more manly and resilient in the presence of oh-so radiant Draco Malfoy (Mouth-joy). </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was uncomfortably silent for a few horribly long minutes. Harry was frantically attempting to keep the sound of his breathing at a minimum volume as they walked, but, alas, the quiet allowed for very loud breathing noises. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a few moments of this, Harry decided it would be a swell idea to stop in his tracks, lift his head up, do a little jig, and start cracking up. It was equally bizarre for both parties involved. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So for someone who’s seemed clinically depressed for the last month or so, you’re rather lively,” Malfoy mused from behind him, “Maybe I’m the cure to all your ailments.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry’s brain did a little smiley thing knowing that Malfoy had noticed how terrible he’d been feeling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I really doubt that. I’m probably just pumped from the adventure. This will all hit me in a few days, and I’ll simply crumple to the ground while my brain stabs itself inside of my skull. And we both have our issues, hmm?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Malfoy let out a honk of sorts, then coughed. “Ah. Indeed. That’s a discussion for another time, I suppose. You’ve seen my scars. I’ve seen your hellish hangover-stained face. Well, you’ll have your band of misfits to take care of you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well that was great. The last thing he wanted to be talking about was his issues, but then again, it had to be dealt with eventually. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ugh.</span>
  </em>
  <span> How could he just switch how he portrayed himself so easily?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry shooed away his thoughts and decided that it would be best to ignore Malfoy’s honk. “Definitely a conversation for another time. And, about my friends, I wouldn’t be so sure, I bet Ron’s gonna kill me after he hears what happened, and Mione’s gonna hang my severed head in the common room, and Ginny won’t be there for me anymore, and Luna...I don’t even know. They were just </span>
  <em>
    <span>so pissed </span>
  </em>
  <span>about me not telling them what was up with me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>you talk to at least one of your friends about it? Seems like there would be </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone </span>
  </em>
  <span>who would listen.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well when I try to talk to my friends, they kinda just...tell me what I’m doing wrong, and how I’m wrong, and all that. Or just...vent to me about their own issues. It’s not very helpful and it really pisses me off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Silence. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look at us, being all civil.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a very foreign feeling, I must admit, but I wouldn’t mind becoming accustomed to it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry smiled a bit, and when the quiet returned, both boys welcomed it with open arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the seconds ticked by, Harry noticed that the ground had begun tilting downward, the slight slope quickly turning into a steep downhill trek, the gravel tumbling down into the darkness. Both boys kept their wands in front of them, illuminating their feet so they wouldn’t slip. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In a trice, Harry felt a firm grip on his arm pulling him swiftly backwards a few feet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turned to look at the boy behind him. “What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Watch where you’re walking. You could’ve fallen into another pit.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nawwwww-” Harry realigned his gaze on the ground ahead, only to freeze. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh wow.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh wow indeed. You’re very lucky that I’m here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, almighty one, I am forever in your debt.” Harry bowed, nearly tripping into the pit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luckily, savior Malfoy caught his arm again...and smirked. “Of course.” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>im baaaaaaack this chapter was not great apologies</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Draco Writes a Therapeutic Letter To Himself (Discreetly)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is super short, and just a heads up, it was written in the past. Basically, background for this chapter is that one of his friends decided it would be a good idea to give Draco therapy advice, and told him to write a letter to himself explaining how he felt. Being the sassy boy that he is, he rejected the idea, then decided to write a letter later that night...but in secret. </p><p>I warn you. This chapter was the product of my own pit of a soul bubbling over with rage. Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Draco,</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Parents are assholes. Parents are shitty, and hide behind empty benefits. They are the rustic-style picnic table from Ashley HomeStore that you've been wanting to buy for ages, but as soon as you buy it, and run your hand along its weathered planks, you get splintered. It’s a deep-ass splinter. And it fucking bleeds. They give and take but take more. Not just our money, not just our rights, not just our freedom...but our sense of self-worth. They feel it is their duty to make it clear to their children that, yeah, the world was not made for them and yeah, life is going to fucking suck. They have this idea that kids need to experience the worst in the beginning in order to live a better life. Except it's not like that, I suppose. The beginning that was supposed to improve the quality of living only brings forth more pain in the future. Those nasty comments, rude remarks, those days and days of being told you’re worthless....kids grow up to believe that their lives are mistakes, that their lives are absolute shit that needs to be incinerated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But that’s not fucking true, is it? I mean, if I think about all the crazy shit I’ve done, the change I’ve put in place, the things I’ve experienced...I’m not at all satisfied. I’m not satisfied, I’m not happy, I’m not pleased. But I did it, right? I did it because of them. My family. I had my childhood stripped away by the merciless hands of my predecessors, my youth torn from my bones like chunks of flesh that have not yet been kissed by the wrinkled, gray lips of age. Those fucking gray lips. They made out with my soul and left me with the untouched body of a young, weak boy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I’ve been through some shit, huh?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I’ve seen some things.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so have they. Which scares me more than hottie Potter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When I think about how my parents treat me now, I think about how my parents were treated, and fuck, I know my father grew up in an even tenser household than my own. Sometimes I question if I’m in the wrong for hating my father with such fervent passion when he, too, no doubt felt that hatred as well. It may have been years before, decades even. But it was there. And maybe still is. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>To be honest, if I really ponder it, there’s an ever-present, neverending chain of parental shit. It keeps back so much, it links so much together, it holds people down and pushes people around, it keeps even the most skilled souls on edge. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ah fuck, I don’t even know where this letter is going...it’s turning into a real long rant. I suppose I’ll just continue then. It couldn’t hurt to keep going. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anyways, the chain just keeps going, right? I guess it extends for miles and miles in both directions. Every person is a link, and they each say, “I’m going to grow up and have tiny versions of myself, and they’ll grow up with a better life. I...I will be the one to break- to end the chain.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That’s what they all say. And it keeps going, regardless of those empty promises. Because it’s easier to bounce back to what you know, right? It’s easier to hide in your home than to face the demons banging on your front door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So in the end, that raw emotion, that pure disappointment, that self loathing, derived solely from the knowledge that they, parents, have failed their kids...it gets taken out on the children. It got taken out on me, at least. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve already gone this far, might as well let everything else go.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And that suffering. That pain. It feeds the chain, the links bind them tighter, and it continues for generations. The chain gets stronger. The walls get taller. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And everyone goes to hell in the end. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone fucking goes to hell. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And I’m such a coward that I’m probably going straight down with them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, I suppose I’ll make sure to bring a deck of cards with me to keep us all busy down there. If I’m useless here in the mortal plane, I might as well give myself some worth as an entertainer in hell.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Best wishes, I guess,</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Draco.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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